We as a family have been raising Monarch Butterflies this summer, we raised a few last year but no near this year. The Monarch population is declining, so bringing the numbers back up is important. A few interesting things about the Monarch are: The don't have cocoons, they have a chrysalis. When the morph into the chrysalis stage there caterpillar skin actually splits at the base of their head and the green part is actually the inside of their body. They also hatch, live and eat only on the milkweed plant. Most people kill this plant in their yard because it is a WEED. Without this plant there are no butterflies. Survival rate is very slim in the outdoors, wasps and hornets love them in their vulnerable stage, right after they bloom. Their wings are exceptionally small at first and the fluid from their bodies actually fills their wings. The can't fly for a couple of hours after the chrysalis stage so this is a good time to look at their wings with a magnifying glass. It looks like feathers. If you decide to do this there are a few things I must warn you about. Caterpillar poo. They hatch and grow dramatically in about a week so there is alot and keeping fresh milkweed is important. I have a video but I don't know how to transfer the feed from camera to here. When I figure it out I will put it on. Very cool. I am going to add some pics to my gallery so check them out as well.

Baby Food:
I make my own baby food and I know this seems hard to some, but I want to shed light that it is very easy. I recommend this to mothers for several reasons. If you have a chance to visit a Farmers Market they have great produce and fairly inexpensive, you can buy there. You do need a couple of things. I use a blender instead of a food processor because I already owned one. Steaming the veggies and fruit and important because the water that comes off the food can be used in thinning your final product out. Peel, Cube, Steam, throw in a blender, consistency of yogurt, put in ice cube trays. The food can last for about a week or so like this. No salt or sugar of course. One sweet potato makes about half a tray. Very cost effective and the satisfaction is nice. Don't worry about slaving over the stove. In the time it takes to watch three commercials your product can be cubed and thrown in the steamer. Your show is over the veggies are done, now mash or blend and spoon into trays and stick in the freezer. Viola, homemade baby food. Pop out a couple of cubes and stick in the microwave (don't forget to check for hotspots) and look! little person has wonderful food. Also I like to throw a couple of cubes in tupperware when we go out and the unfreezing process takes care of itself. You can also put it in the fridge as is, this keeps it fresh and handy for roughly three to four days.

Well, I just thought I would share.