One way that scientists gather information about different species is to engage the public. Monitoring life cycles, sightings, phenological events, and migrations are all ways to find out more about what a particular species is doing and how it’s adapting to our changing world. One such example is the BioBlitz that is underway now for…
school gardens
New Monarch Activity Pack Available for Self-Study
If you’ve followed my blog for any time, you’ll know that I’ve been an active monarch conservationist for the last 25 years. Over that time, I’ve taught hundreds of community members and thousands of school-aged children about the Monarch Butterfly, their life cycle, habitat, and migration. For me, trends in monarch conservation have come and…
Poetry Friday: May Has Always been a Favorite Month
With the close of National Poetry Month, I feel a sense of accomplishment. I was able to write a poem a day and match it to one of my photos. I posted those here, and to my Facebook Page, and some to Medium.com Other writing accomplishments for April were having two boosted stories on Medium.com….
National Poetry Month: Day 8
I started this morning reviewing some blog articles I wrote in 2012, 2013, and 2014 for a website I made for my elementary after-school garden club students and parents. Reading my own words brought back many fond memories of the years I led this group I founded in 2004. It ended in 2017, but then…
Poetry Friday: A Mixed Bag
Wow! The end of July and the beginning of August have been busy. We had lots of visitors in July. Two different couples came up for two different weekends mid-month and before that, our boys were here for the Fourth of July holiday. Near the end of the month, we hopped in the car with…
Silent Sunday: Gardens
Today is Silent Sunday! This is the day of the week that I post my own photography on a theme of my choosing. I hope you enjoy the gardens today! There is no permission to duplicate in any form. Thank you.
I Forgot How Nice it Feels
I’ve forgotten how nice it is to talk to someone (anyone, really) about my conservation work for monarch butterflies. This morning I got to do just that for half an hour! I cannot tell you much yet, but I was interviewed for an upcoming article by a conservation organization. This was something that just came…
Maybe the End of an Era?
Yesterday, I did something that I’ve been putting off. If you read my blog regularly, you know we’ve been cleaning out in anticipation of moving later this year. Sometimes cleaning out is easy. You look at something and think, why did I keep that piece of sh_t? Or, sometimes cleaning out is hard. We all…
Holiday Cactus Resource on TpT
Few probably know that I have some classroom resources on the Teachers Pay Teachers website. My user name there is Garden Club Lessons. I taught an after-school garden club for 13 years at the elementary school my boys attended. For the most part, I researched topics and then developed my own lessons. It’s not anywhere…
The Last Monarchs of the Season, Perhaps or Perhaps Not?
Someone I just met asked me what my most recent degree was, knowing I used to be a nurse. I answered that I had obtained a second master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin at Steven’s Point in Natural Resources with a focus in Environmental Education and Interpretation (EE/EI). I responded that I was essentially…






