Turn Your Backyard into an Oasis for Wildlife

Tama Matsuoka, New Jersey plant enthusiast and author, will share her experiences for creating a backyard meadow in New Jersey by offering simple how-to steps in this new workshop on Tuesday, June 16, 6 p.m. at Duke Farms.

The workshop is based, in part, on her book, “Meadows on the Menu,” that she co-authored with the New Jersey Audubon Society. The book features different types of New Jersey meadows and the native plants needed to provide food for wildlife, such as birds and butterflies. Using a cookbook format, the book lists the different "recipes" of plants needed in meadows to attract specific species of wildlife.

A Web site -- www.meadowsandmore.com -- provides an extension service to the book, featuring projects in the making, question and answers and plant and wildlife identification. The book will be available for purchase at the workshop for the wholesale price of $5.

The workshop will be held at Duke Farms, 80 Route 206 South, enter via Dukes Parkway East, in Hillsborough.

The workshop is free but advance registration is required due to space limitations. To register, call (908) 722-3700 from 11 a.m .to 2 p.m., or email Gylla MacGregor of the New Jersey Audubon Society at gylla.macgregor@njaudubon.org.