Featured Articles from The Butterfly Effect

23
Aug

For the Earth Warriors. By Chris Heeter.

For the Earth Warriors… by Chris Heeter
Read More
19
Jul

Conservation Gardening: A Gardening Imperative for the Anthropocene. By Leslie Pilgrim

I’ve loved gardening since I was a kid. I’ve engaged in this passion-bordering-on addiction since I could ride a bike and count change.
Read More
10
Jun

How to Garden and Landscape for Butterflies, by Alan Branhagen

, , ,
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
20
Apr

The Suburban Lawn: Shifting the Paradigm

, ,
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
02
Mar

Food as Sacred: The Deep Connection between Cacao and the Indigenous Bribri Culture of Costa Rica

, ,
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
23
Feb

Mission to the Earth. Creating Biodiversity at One’s Place of Worship

, ,
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
16
Jan

Dog Waste is Harming the Environment. In Many, Many Ways…

,
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
24
Dec

Schoolyards: A Vast Resource. Growing Fruits and Vegetables, and Learning about Food at School

, , ,
“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
29
Nov

Urban Agriculture: Market Gardening Comes to Town

,
Local food production is one of the key components of a climate crisis solution. The spread of the urban agriculture phenomenon across the U.S. is encouraging in this regard.
Read More
02
Oct

Claim Dirt Where You Can. Rewilding Beyond Your Own Yard

,
Read More
soft landings graphic
26
Sep

Grounded and Surrounded

, , , , , , , , ,
How you can help wild animals come in for a soft landing.
Read More

Your contact information will be kept strictly confidential and will only be used to send you issues of The Butterfly Effect and occasional update emails.