{"id":42912,"date":"2016-10-14T11:20:00","date_gmt":"2016-10-14T15:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/?p=42912"},"modified":"2025-05-01T10:37:54","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T14:37:54","slug":"monarch-spotting-and-why-we-want-make-a-hospitable-home-for-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/monarch-spotting-and-why-we-want-make-a-hospitable-home-for-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Monarch Butterflies: Why We Want to Provide a Hospitable Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

Upon moving to our farm, Mr. B and I agreed that we wanted to use as few chemicals as possible when it came to growing and caring for our land. The reasons for this are plenty, but perhaps there could be no better spokesman for this effort than the critter pictured here: the monarch butterfly.<\/p>\n

While not the only butterfly to flutter about our property, its wings are certainly eye-catching. But more importantly, this seemingly delicate insect is an important barometer for the ecological health of our continent. Each fall, the butterflies travel en masse as far as 3,000 miles from Canada to Mexico to set up home for the winter, but in the past couple decades, their populations have dropped dramatically\u2014as much as 80 percent in some areas<\/a>. Scientists attribute this decline to many factors<\/a>, including overuse of pesticides and herbicides, deforestation, and loss of milkweed (the only plant in which it breeds and feeds, shown in the photo below).<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where farms like ours come in.<\/p>\n

\"monarch
Rachael Brugger<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As the monarchs make their fall migration south, they\u2019ll be stopping along the way to get energy\u2014and actually bulk up\u2014for the road ahead. It\u2019s one of my deepest desires to provide a safe place for these beautiful creatures, as well as many of the other wildlife that aren\u2019t just passing through, but call our Kentucky land home. By not spraying chemicals and making our peace with the \u201cweeds\u201d and \u201cpests\u201d that spring up on our land, we\u2019re creating an open door that says life is welcome here. We\u2019ll give you food and a place to rest, if only you\u2019ll just come.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re not even truly farming yet\u2014and I know things will get more complicated when we do begin cultivating our gardens\u2014but to be able to walk out onto the land and experience the buzz of bees, the rustle of goldenrod, the bright pops of milkweed<\/a> and the curious stares of deer fills me with both joy and awe.<\/p>\n

I feel blessed every time I see a monarch flitting about\u2014or one of its caterpillars munching on milkweed\u2014and you should, too, because their presence isn\u2019t secure. Many researchers and citizen scientists are working to ensure this orange-and-black wonder doesn\u2019t go extinct. You can help, too.<\/p>\n

Be a pollinator-friendly farm by planting the native flowers where monarchs and other butterflies eat and live and avoiding the use of chemicals that kill those plants or the insects themselves. You can also help track the journey of the monarchs as they cross over the U.S. into Mexico by reporting your sightings on Journey North<\/a>. This will help those studying the monarch and its population decline have a better understanding of its whereabouts and habits.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m glad that this year, monarchs are seeing a resurgence<\/a> in their populations, and I hope this isn\u2019t a fluke, because I look forward to hosting them again year after year as they make their seasonal migration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As we develop our land plan as new farmers, it will include management practices that help preserve pollinators, like the monarch. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":64415,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,427],"tags":[10362],"class_list":["post-42912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beginning-farmers","category-farm-management","tag-the-accidental-farmer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMonarch Butterflies: Why We Want to Provide a Hospitable Home - Hobby Farms<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As we develop our land plan as new farmers, it will include management practices that help preserve pollinators, like the monarch.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/admin.hobbyfarms.com\/monarch-spotting-and-why-we-want-make-a-hospitable-home-for-them\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Monarch Butterflies: Why We Want to Provide a Hospitable Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As we develop our land plan as new farmers, it will include management practices that help preserve pollinators, like the monarch.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/admin.hobbyfarms.com\/monarch-spotting-and-why-we-want-make-a-hospitable-home-for-them\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hobby Farms\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hobbyfarms\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-10-14T15:20:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-01T14:37:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/08172841\/monarch-butterflies-male-female-released.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"463\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rachael Dupree\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@hobbyfarms\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@hobbyfarms\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rachael Dupree\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.hobbyfarms.com\/monarch-spotting-and-why-we-want-make-a-hospitable-home-for-them\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.hobbyfarms.com\/monarch-spotting-and-why-we-want-make-a-hospitable-home-for-them\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rachael Dupree\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3ff486e23b5a9205cd04c27e73adcd2d\"},\"headline\":\"Monarch Butterflies: Why We Want to Provide a Hospitable Home\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-10-14T15:20:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-01T14:37:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.hobbyfarms.com\/monarch-spotting-and-why-we-want-make-a-hospitable-home-for-them\/\"},\"wordCount\":521,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.hobbyfarms.com\/monarch-spotting-and-why-we-want-make-a-hospitable-home-for-them\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/08172841\/monarch-butterflies-male-female-released.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"The Accidental Farmer\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Beginning Farmers\",\"Farm Management\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/admin.hobbyfarms.com\/monarch-spotting-and-why-we-want-make-a-hospitable-home-for-them\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.hobbyfarms.com\/monarch-spotting-and-why-we-want-make-a-hospitable-home-for-them\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/admin.hobbyfarms.com\/monarch-spotting-and-why-we-want-make-a-hospitable-home-for-them\/\",\"name\":\"Monarch Butterflies: Why We Want to Provide a Hospitable Home - Hobby Farms\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.hobbyfarms.com\/monarch-spotting-and-why-we-want-make-a-hospitable-home-for-them\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.hobbyfarms.com\/monarch-spotting-and-why-we-want-make-a-hospitable-home-for-them\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/08172841\/monarch-butterflies-male-female-released.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-10-14T15:20:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-01T14:37:54+00:00\",\"description\":\"As we develop our land plan as new farmers, it will include management practices that help preserve pollinators, like the monarch.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.hobbyfarms.com\/monarch-spotting-and-why-we-want-make-a-hospitable-home-for-them\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/admin.hobbyfarms.com\/monarch-spotting-and-why-we-want-make-a-hospitable-home-for-them\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.hobbyfarms.com\/monarch-spotting-and-why-we-want-make-a-hospitable-home-for-them\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/08172841\/monarch-butterflies-male-female-released.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/08172841\/monarch-butterflies-male-female-released.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":463,\"caption\":\"Susan Brackney\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.hobbyfarms.com\/monarch-spotting-and-why-we-want-make-a-hospitable-home-for-them\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Monarch Butterflies: Why We Want to Provide a Hospitable Home\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/\",\"name\":\"Hobby Farms\",\"description\":\"Rural Living for Pleasure and Profit\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Hobby Farms\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/00GPSuRp-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/00GPSuRp-logo.png\",\"width\":586,\"height\":68,\"caption\":\"Hobby Farms\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hobbyfarms\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/hobbyfarms\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3ff486e23b5a9205cd04c27e73adcd2d\",\"name\":\"Rachael Dupree\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/24070055\/unnamed-2.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/24070055\/unnamed-2.png\",\"caption\":\"Rachael Dupree\"},\"description\":\"Rachael Dupree is the former managing editor for HobbyFarms. She grows food and medicine on her 50-acre farm near Lexington, Kentucky. When not out working her land, you can find her in her kitchen not following recipes, on her yoga mat in a satisfying pigeon pose, or exploring the world\u2019s nooks and crannies.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/rachael_dupree\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/author\/rachael-brugger\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Monarch Butterflies: Why We Want to Provide a Hospitable Home - Hobby Farms","description":"As we develop our land plan as new farmers, it will include management practices that help preserve pollinators, like the monarch.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/admin.hobbyfarms.com\/monarch-spotting-and-why-we-want-make-a-hospitable-home-for-them\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Monarch Butterflies: Why We Want to Provide a Hospitable Home","og_description":"As we develop our land plan as new farmers, it will include management practices that help preserve pollinators, like the monarch.","og_url":"https:\/\/admin.hobbyfarms.com\/monarch-spotting-and-why-we-want-make-a-hospitable-home-for-them\/","og_site_name":"Hobby Farms","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hobbyfarms","article_published_time":"2016-10-14T15:20:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-05-01T14:37:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":463,"url":"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/08172841\/monarch-butterflies-male-female-released.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Rachael Dupree","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@hobbyfarms","twitter_site":"@hobbyfarms","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rachael Dupree","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/admin.hobbyfarms.com\/monarch-spotting-and-why-we-want-make-a-hospitable-home-for-them\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.hobbyfarms.com\/monarch-spotting-and-why-we-want-make-a-hospitable-home-for-them\/"},"author":{"name":"Rachael Dupree","@id":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3ff486e23b5a9205cd04c27e73adcd2d"},"headline":"Monarch Butterflies: Why We Want to Provide a Hospitable Home","datePublished":"2016-10-14T15:20:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-01T14:37:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.hobbyfarms.com\/monarch-spotting-and-why-we-want-make-a-hospitable-home-for-them\/"},"wordCount":521,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.hobbyfarms.com\/monarch-spotting-and-why-we-want-make-a-hospitable-home-for-them\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/08172841\/monarch-butterflies-male-female-released.jpg","keywords":["The Accidental Farmer"],"articleSection":["Beginning Farmers","Farm Management"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/admin.hobbyfarms.com\/monarch-spotting-and-why-we-want-make-a-hospitable-home-for-them\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/admin.hobbyfarms.com\/monarch-spotting-and-why-we-want-make-a-hospitable-home-for-them\/","url":"https:\/\/admin.hobbyfarms.com\/monarch-spotting-and-why-we-want-make-a-hospitable-home-for-them\/","name":"Monarch Butterflies: Why We Want to Provide a Hospitable Home - Hobby Farms","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.hobbyfarms.com\/monarch-spotting-and-why-we-want-make-a-hospitable-home-for-them\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.hobbyfarms.com\/monarch-spotting-and-why-we-want-make-a-hospitable-home-for-them\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/08172841\/monarch-butterflies-male-female-released.jpg","datePublished":"2016-10-14T15:20:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-01T14:37:54+00:00","description":"As we develop our land plan as new farmers, it will include management practices that help preserve pollinators, like the monarch.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.hobbyfarms.com\/monarch-spotting-and-why-we-want-make-a-hospitable-home-for-them\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/admin.hobbyfarms.com\/monarch-spotting-and-why-we-want-make-a-hospitable-home-for-them\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/admin.hobbyfarms.com\/monarch-spotting-and-why-we-want-make-a-hospitable-home-for-them\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/08172841\/monarch-butterflies-male-female-released.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/08172841\/monarch-butterflies-male-female-released.jpg","width":800,"height":463,"caption":"Susan Brackney"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/admin.hobbyfarms.com\/monarch-spotting-and-why-we-want-make-a-hospitable-home-for-them\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Monarch Butterflies: Why We Want to Provide a Hospitable Home"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/","name":"Hobby Farms","description":"Rural Living for Pleasure and Profit","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#organization","name":"Hobby Farms","url":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/00GPSuRp-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/00GPSuRp-logo.png","width":586,"height":68,"caption":"Hobby Farms"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hobbyfarms","https:\/\/x.com\/hobbyfarms"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3ff486e23b5a9205cd04c27e73adcd2d","name":"Rachael Dupree","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/24070055\/unnamed-2.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/24070055\/unnamed-2.png","caption":"Rachael Dupree"},"description":"Rachael Dupree is the former managing editor for HobbyFarms. She grows food and medicine on her 50-acre farm near Lexington, Kentucky. When not out working her land, you can find her in her kitchen not following recipes, on her yoga mat in a satisfying pigeon pose, or exploring the world\u2019s nooks and crannies.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/rachael_dupree\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/author\/rachael-brugger\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42912"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42912\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":129715,"href":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42912\/revisions\/129715"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}