Throughout the millennia, the astounding beauty of the butterfly has inspired the imagination, the arts, literature, and poetry. Attracting these magnificent creatures into our own yards requires three basic ingredients: larval host plants, nectar plants, and sheltering habitat.Read More
Let’s suppose you’re shopping for hot sauce. You probably have a favorite brand. You may be very firm about it. Let’s say you’d definitely buy Tabasco, but you’d rarely buy any other brand.Read More
Butterflies are likely the most beloved and recognizable group of insects because of their striking wing coloring and patterning. Butterflies are a subset of moths in the order Lepidoptera. Because our North American butterflies are active during the day, and no species is a pest to the average person, they get more respect than their...Read More
I live in a lovely but turf-dominant Twin Cities suburb in Minnesota. After earning my certification as a Minnesota Master Naturalist and studying the work of noted ecologist Douglas Tallamy, I began to understand the critical importance of transitioning my corner of the world to a more natural habitat, primarily for the sake of native...Read More
An Interview with Mainor Ortiz Ortiz, by Sara Nelson Sara Nelson: In 2016 I began a series of trips to Costa Rica with the intention of learning rainforest field botany. However, after apprenticing with a brilliant herbalist, chocolate maker, and Scottish Costa Rica transplant named Ancel Mitchell, my focus veered towards understanding the dynamics of...Read More
In the spring of 2020, we were in the first stages of the pandemic and religious services at my church had been suspended. Entry to the church was limited, making any effort to do interior maintenance impossible.Read More
Our gentle dog Ruby was diagnosed with malignant melanoma last year. She was diagnosed shortly after we rang in the supposedly post pandemic New Year with the resolution: “have more fun.”Read More
“One evening I watched a documentary on Netflix called “Fed Up” and that was all it took to get the wheels spinning in my head about the foods we feed our children in school.Read More
