GNOME Society Nature Festival
Mark your calendars for October 24th! Join the Anderson Mill Neighborhood Association for the GNOME Society Nature Festival, our local celebration in partnership with the Roots & Wings Festival.
There’s something for everyone at this free, family-friendly celebration of nature! Explore our lineup of engaging speakers, local organizations, nature-inspired tables, and hands-on activities. Make a seed ball, create a nature crown, search for wildlife, learn about pollinators, birds, composting and recycling, and discover ways to make your own yard more welcoming to nature. Bring the whole family, meet your neighbors, learn something new, and enjoy a fun day outdoors at Harper Park. Come see what’s growing in your neighborhood and be part of it!
Let’s celebrate our local green spaces together. See you among the trees!
Gardening for Pollinators
Speaker: Yvonne Schneider
Location: Harper Pavilion
Learn how to transform your outdoor space into a thriving pollinator paradise using native plants, simple landscaping tricks, and eco-friendly practices.
Put Out the Welcome Mat for Backyard Birds
Speaker: MaryG Zell
Location: Harper Pavilion
What is a bird looking for when it decides your yard is a good place for a drop-in visit or long-term stay? Just like humans, birds need food, water, shelter, and places to raise young safely, to thrive. Learn how to attract a diversity of expected backyard species, using native plants, water features, supplemental feeders, and nestboxes. Your yard will come alive with bird song and activity!
Composting Made Easy: From Kitchen Scraps to Garden Gold
Speaker: Noelle Espirit Bugaj
Location: Harper Pavilion
Get the dirt on backyard composting! Join Noelle Bugaj, a zero waste educator with over a decade of experience in the field, for a class covering the basics of composting at home. Learn what materials can go in your compost, explore different types of compost bins and systems, troubleshoot common composting problems, and discover ways to use your finished compost.
Noelle began her zero waste journey as an avid gardener before working for one of Central Texas’ largest commercial composting facilities. She has since taught thousands of Austin residents about composting and chicken keeping, helped lead the City of Austin’s Zero Waste Block Leader program, and now works with businesses all across the country to implement practical zero waste programs.
Bring your compost questions and get ready to turn your waste into resource.
Recycling Basics: What, Where, and How
Speaker: Dena Houston
Location: Harper Pavilion
Dena is a 30 year veteran Zero Waste Block Leader volunteer with Austin Resource Recovery.
Dena is a recycling educator and composting and recycling advocate. Her recycling
presentation will include tips on how to reduce junk mail, how to avoid recycling and compost
contamination, and how to recycle difficult items. She will have visuals available to see what
can and cannot be recycled. Her presentation will be followed by a Q&A.
Put Out the Welcome Mat for Backyard Birds
50 Minutes
Creating the Optimum Environment for Pollinators
Recycling Basics, What, Where and How
Composting Made Easy, What, Where and How
Activities for Families and Kids
🌳Let’s Plant a Tree - GNOME Society
🕥10:30 - 2 pm
🎤Speaker: Heather P
📍Location: Outside Harper Park Pavilion by the trail
A Mexican Plum tree will be planted in Harper Park near the pavilion.
Join us to learn correct planting and mulching techniques.
🧭Nature Scavenger Hunt - GNOME Society
🕙10 am - 2 pm
Explore Harper Park to spot nature’s treasures!
Turn your completed card in for a coupon for a special prize. Have fun exploring and happy hunting!
🍙Make A Seed Ball - GNOME Society
🕙10 am - 2 pm
Stop by our free, family-friendly Seed Ball Station and create your own seed ball using clay, soil, and native wildflower seeds. No experience needed—all supplies are provided! Take your seed ball home and give it a toss in an appropriate spot to help grow flowers and provide food for bees, butterflies, and other pollinators.Get a little dirty. Have some fun. Help nature grow!
👑Nature Crowns - Travis County Master Gardeners Association
🕙10 am - 2 pm
Create your own nature-inspired crown using preserved leaves from a variety of tree species. As you choose and arrange your leaves, learn about local trees and discover how to identify them by their leaves and bark. A fun, hands-on way to connect creativity with nature!
🪴Travis County Balcones Canyonland Preserve
🕙10 am - 2 pm
You are invited to create your own wildflower planter using soil and seeds provided by the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve. Take your planter home, plant it in your yard, and enjoy watching wildflowers grow while helping support local pollinators! The BCP protects thousands of acres of Central Texas habitat, providing a home for endangered species and other native wildlife.
Vendors and Tables
🍄FREE Mushroom Blocks - The Central Texas Mycological Society
Take home a mushroom-growing block from the Central Texas Mycological Society! Grow mushrooms at home, and when the block is spent, break it into pieces and spread it around your garden plants as an organic soil amendment. It can help add organic matter to the soil as it breaks down to build healthy, fungal-rich soil!
🪴GNOME Society Pollinator Plant Kits - We have a few left for purchase at the festival
Grow a Pollinator-Friendly Garden and bring a little more color, life, and wildlife to your yard with a Native Pollinator Garden Kit from the GNOME Society! Choose a Sun or Shade Kit, each featuring 24 individual native plants representing at least 6 species selected for Central Texas growing conditions. Each kit includes a planting guide with garden design ideas to help you get growing. $39.00 per kit.
🌸Balcones Canyonland Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalist Program
The chapter is planning on installing their 8th pollinator garden at the Senior Center in Anderson Mill (late 2026 through Spring 2027). This project will enhance this highly visible urban space into a vital "refueling station" for native species while enhancing senior well-being. Through ecology-informed habitat design, this garden will serve as a vibrant neighborhood educational hub, and foster intergenerational connections.
🌵Purple Cactus Gardens - Lindsey Schell
Purple Cactus Gardens offers native plant focused garden design and garden coaching. Our work prioritizes drought-resilient plants, reduced water usage, pollinator friendly plants and organic practices to ensure your landscape not only survives but thrives. Our goal is to make these sustainable gardening practices accessible and rewarding for every gardener at every level of experience. Certified in native plant landscaping by the Native Plant Society of Texas. Purple Cactus Gardens is a woman-owned and locally owned business.
🤓Master Gardener Plant Clinic Travis County
Have a gardening question? Stop by the Master Gardener Plant Clinic for expert, research-based advice on plants, trees, lawns, pests, and other gardening challenges. Bring your questions and learn how to help your garden thrive in Central Texas!
🖐🏽Travis County Balcones Canyonland Preserve - Erin Cord
Erin Cord is the Environmental Supervisor for the Outreach Team on the Travis County portion of the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve (BCP), an AMNA member and AMLD resident!
🧯Austin Fire Wildfire Division
The Wildfire Division protects our community through wildfire education, vegetation management, and effective firefighting response to reduce fire risks and improve community safety.
♻️Austin Resource Recovery
Austin Resource Recovery provides Austin residents with essential services to keep our community clean and sustainable. Through recycling, composting, waste collection, and public education, they help residents reduce waste, conserve resources, and protect the environment. Stop by their festival table to learn how you can make a difference at home!