Monarch Butterflies are beautiful and amazing creatures but are not as abundant these days due to lack of suitable milkweed for their egg-laying and as a caterpillar food source. Learn about different types of milkweed to sustain them – we will have seeds and a limited number of milkweed plants available. Did you know that you can help grow their population by planting milkweed, collecting monarch eggs and raising the resulting caterpillars in a protected environment and then watch them turn to chrysalis and emerge as a butterfly for release? Learn how to care for eggs, caterpillars, chrysalis’, and even how to tag monarchs for their fall migratory journey to Mexico.
The workshop will be at 10 am at the Newton Conservators tent at the Elm Street Farmer’s Market (Elm and Washington Streets, West Newton). A butterfly walk, leaving the market at 11 am, will visit several nearby monarch butterfly and pollinator gardens including one at Wellington Park. This free workshop is sponsored by the Newton Conservators ( Contact Ted Kuklinski, president@newtonconservators.org, 617-763-3470). Come and pick up some farmer’s market goodies at the same time!
