Hi everyone - I am new and happy2bhere. Here's a little info on me:


I am brand new to organic veggie "farming" *I have three small raised beds overflowing .
Planted a monarch butterfly station this year (hoping to re-establish the devastation to butterflies caused by a recent crop dusting spray of FORAY 76B that was done in my neighborhood by the dept of natural resources. Sprayed homes, yards, cars, kids waiting for school bus. It was awful!!!
Have two dogs and dog-sit my grand-doggy
Have been known to rescue dogs/cats/birds - anything/anyone that I feel I can give assistance to.

I feel I have relieved many negative health issues through dietary changes that became lifestyle changes. And will continue to practice good health and nutrition daily.

I love decorating, too.

Can't wait to jump in! The forum is AMAZING!

Hi happy2bhere. I'm also new to the forum. I think the forum is pretty amazing too. I've been interested in organic gardening, alternative medicine and herbals for years. It's very nice to meet a fellow forum member.

Welcome happy2bhere. I see you are close to Chicago. I'm so sorry. I've heard that Chicago has 2 seasons. Winter and August. Just kidding of course. My seasons are longer with 40 degree winters and 100 degree summers. And no rain.

I'm so glad you are helping Monarchs. I help tag them once a year to try to keep up with their migration. I volunteer with a national wildlife refuge here in central TX. Do you have milkweed? They love the stuff. The caterpillars will devour it in the process of their growth cycle. Have you found this site yet? https://www.monarchwatch.org/

I can't seem to grow veggies very well. Texas has grasshoppers as big as horses. And OMG, you should see the jackrabbits. The deer ear everything, even the trees.

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- Jim

�Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened.� Sir Winston Churchill

Welcome to you too Auntie Eisel.

Thank you Yes, the monarch watch org is where I purchased the way station kit and you see a tiny bit of it in my avatar. I have seen ONE (1) Monarch this summer. ONE swallow tail It is sad, but I am hoping the cooler (80s) temps will bring on more. Even the hummingbirds seem to be summering "up north"
The milkweed is THRIVING. I will not pull anything out of the ground unless I am certain it is useless. I have even planted three types of clovers in the hope our honey bees find them yummy. The red are really pretty. I did NOT plant the Joe Pye Weed - for I waited too long and you must cold stratify for 2-4 weeks prior to planting. Now I know.
The organic bird seed has attributed to the many wild sunflowers growing around the yard (which I tend) and the goldfinches love them, unless the squirrels get to them first.
I have a bird/bug/bee/butterfly sanctuary going on here. I did remove and relocate TWO HUGE leaf hoppers that were devouring my smoke bush tree.

How do you tag a monarch?

Welcome to both of you, happy you're here too!

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"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." ~Immanual Kant~

Thank you Auntie Eisel and kind2creatures for the welcomes. I like it here!! Need to learn how to resize the pics I post, tho

We don't see monarchs until about the first week of October. Then the migrate through here.

We have a day of fun for kids and entertainment of adults about that time. We give the kids butterfly nets, but the adults always want to help. They catch the monarchs. We then put little stickers the diameter of english peas on one wing. We keep a datasheet of the tag numbers. https://shop.monarchwatch.org/store/p...gging-Kit.aspx Then we return the datasheets to monarchwatch. https://monarchwatch.org/tagmig/tag.htm

The kids have so much fun. We have guided walks through the wilderness for all age groups. We have a snake/reptile show. Several other things. We do so much to educate the public about conservation and wildlife. Out purpose is to save two endangered songbird species. https://friendsofbalcones.org/

I did not register my way station - I will not be catching - just watching from behind the window. Trust me, you won't be seeing any NW Indiana butterflies - I am sure the btk moth spray is STILL killing many species. Oh, that was awful. My home was spared but they began two blocks over - I was so upset.

I am sure the poison will have a negative effect on our birdies, too. I have seen TWO humming birds this summer. My feeders are kept clean (every three days) due to heat and I do NOT use organic (molasses) sugar NOR any dye. I do boil and let cool.

My bird seed is organic as well. Filtered water in the bird bath. It's the least I can do. Thank You for all you do!!♥♥ Sounds like a wonderful organization.

Hello happy2bhere welcome, your garden sounds great and I love the way you are looking after the butterflys, and your rescue pets, welcome to you also Auntie Eisel.

Thank you Ozzie. I saw on your profile the misformed plants - do you see alot of white straight lines in your skies, coming from jets so high up there, that the "white matter" seems to turn into strange clouds? I wonder if it could be geoengineering of our weather?

I have noticed odd fiber in my soil! Strange. Not sure if it is something that mixes with our questionable water from Lake Michigan, or it is something more sinister being sprayed in the ionosphere to help cool the earth - as if they know for certain that is really going to help!!

happy2bhere Yes we do see quite a lot o jet trails here, I havent noticed any white fiber matter though.