joegardener

I’ve visited a lot of interesting gardens and talked with a lot of fascinating people over the years, but this week’s conversation introduced me to something completely new to me: butterfly farming. 🦋

Jane Breckinridge has been raising butterflies for more than 30 years at @eucheebutterflyfarm in Oklahoma. But what she and her team have built goes far beyond the butterflies themselves.

Through Natives Raising Natives and the @tribalallianceforpollinators butterfly farming has become a way to support Indigenous communities while restoring native grasslands, preserving native plant species and educating the next generation.

And there are plenty of lessons here for our own gardens, too.

One that really stuck with me: fewer than 5% of butterfly eggs typically make it to adulthood. Caterpillars are an essential part of the food web, and the ones that survive need a LOT of food.

So if we want more butterflies, nectar flowers are only half the story. We need host plants and we need them in abundance. We need gardens where caterpillars are welcome.

This is such a good conversation about butterflies, native plants, habitat and how even a small patch of ground can make a difference. My Marketing Director, nature photographer, and caterpillar enthusiast, Amy Prentice @toadandsage, joined us for this conversation, too. She lives not far from the farm and was inspired to make this story a podcast episode after she recently toured the farm.

🎧 Listen or watch the latest episode of the joe gardener® show at the link in bio or wherever you get your podcasts.

#ButterflyGarden #PollinatorGarden #NativePlants #WildlifeGarden #Butterflies #Caterpillars #HostPlants #EcologicalGardening #PollinatorHabitat #JoeGardener