Circle Oct. 30 on your calendar and plan to “bee” at the Lenoir County Farmers Market for an exciting and unusual program.

Beginning at 9 a.m. that day, the Lenoir Master Gardeners and Jr. Master Gardeners will join efforts with representatives from 4-H, Corteva Agriscience, Quail Forever, the Neuse Regional Beekeepers, and the NC Native Plant Society to create an engaging and highly visible native-plant only demonstration garden. They will prepare and plant the garden around the base of the CSS Neuse II on the Gordon Street side.

The event, titled the “Pollinator Party,” will feature games, crafts, education, and tasty activities. Participants will be able to help plant the new demonstration garden, dissect a flower, make a bee, prepare a seed ball, create a pollinator headband and stewardship bracelet, and compete in the nectar-gathering game and pollinator corn hole. They will also learn about pollination, see live honeybees, taste honey, and experience a tasty recipe using honey.

Children will receive a passport and collect stamps as they move through the activities. At check-out, they will receive final giveaways – and enter drawings for adult and kid prizes.

Come dressed as your favorite pollinator.

A combination of efforts has brought about the event and garden. The Lenoir County Master Gardener Volunteers proposed a small native plant demonstration garden, while Lenoir County 4-H was looking for a site for a pollinator garden as part of a grant to increase education about the value of pollinators.

The grant program, called Corteva Grows Pollinator Habitat, initiated a collaborative effort between Corteva Agriscience, Quails Forever, and 4-H. Lenoir County was fortunate to have a Corteva office, so Lenoir County 4-H was invited to participate.

This match was made in heaven. Thanks go to Peg Godwin, Lenoir County Extension agent, who brought these two educational projects together.

When completed, the demonstration garden at the Neuse II will feature plants native to this area of North Carolina. At the bow end, the plants will have markers beside them to identify the plants. In addition, each marker will include a QR code that will take anyone interested to a website that contains extensive information about the plants. The rest of the garden will be a native wildflower meadow.

The Master Gardener aims for the garden are to illustrate the accessible and cost-effective implementation of native plants for landscaping and beautification; to provide an enticing and enjoyable example of landscaping with native plants; to create a visible oasis for wildlife close to the Neuse River, and to educate visitors about plants and the function of their ecosystems.

National 4-H Council (Council), Corteva Agriscience, and Quails Forever are partnering with National 4-H Council to provide funding and local employee contacts to teach the importance of pollinators and pollinator habitat.

This funding seeks to teach 4-H Youth and their communities the importance of pollinators to humanity's ecological survival. Youth learn how pollinators function and the importance of a quality biodiverse pollinator habitat, thereby becoming champions for those who pollinate our food.

This grant has reached more than 30,000 youth nationwide in the last three years. North Carolina is only one of many states that have worked with Corteva and Quails Forever. Organizers are proud and grateful that Lenoir, Jones, and Greene counties were chosen to receive this year's funding.

The process begins with the “Pollinator Party” from 9 a.m. through 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 30, at the Farmers Market. The Master Gardeners are hoping for around 250 children to enjoy the event and assist with the planting. To protect those involved in this event – especially the children – access to the Farmers Market will be available only on the south side of the market. No cars will be allowed on the market's north side.

Plan to stay for lunch. The Carolina Taqueria Food Truck will be on-site.

Mike Parker is a columnist for Neuse News. You can reach him at mparker16@gmail.com.