School Groups Arrive For Tagging Monarchs

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   It was monarch tagging time for the third grade at Ira B. Jones School during Sept. 22-23. They just missed the largest amount of monarchs by two days, but we had enough to tag and release them for the kids to see over the two day period.
   
   

   
   

   
   

   The kids got to enjoy seeing all phases of the butterflies as we still had eggs, larva, and chrysalis for them to witness. They had a great time seeing all of these up close and seemed to be the most excited by just touching the caterpillars.
   
   
   
   

   After visiting the flighthouse, they learned a little about farming as they helped pick milkweed seed pods and as a reward, got to keep plenty of seeds to plant at the school for the future.

   
   

   
   
   

   Other things at the farm were also equally fascinating to them as they learned about alternative energy, and spent time feeding the fish and watching dragonflies at the pond.

   
   
   
   

   
   

   Our next big visit was from Evergreen Charter School, where we had 48 kids at once. These kids were the fifth grade class and I don't really think there wasn't anything that they weren't familiar with here on the farm.

   
   

   
   

   Not only did we have more monarchs for them to tag when they were here on Oct. 6, but they learned a lot about small farms and particularly about the history of our farm here over the past 160 years. They got to see some really old farming tools and learned about how the "old timers" were the best sustainable farmers.

   
   
   

   
   

   These kids also helped out a lot on the farm. They even brought work gloves and helped me prepare pots for blueberries, collect milkweed seed pods, and spread mulch onto my blueberries.

   
   

   
   

   What I thought was particularly exciting was to see the number of students who, when asked if they thought they would become farmers, raised their hands enthusiastically. Maybe, just maybe my little one day visit has inspired at least one new farmer for the future!!
   
   
   
   
   

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Mrs. Hall's Fourth Grade Returns

My sister brought out another one of her fourth grade classes to visit the farm today. There were plenty of butterflies to be seen in the flight house and plenty of fish, dragonflies, and other pond animals to see at the pond.

My mother came out to help once again as the senior chaperons along with three other men who either taught at Ira B. Jones Elementary School in Asheville, NC., or who were parents of kids there today.

We really like these eager young people when they come out and explore the farm and learn about the monarch butterflies and farming. They seem to know about as much as I do at times. I hope that they get the chance to come out this summer with their parents and learn more.
Watch the video here:

Ira B Jones Elementary School Visits The Farm

Vicki Hall's 4th grade class arrives for a tour of the Hop'n Blueberry Farm and butterflies

The kids get to see freshly hatched monarchs in the caterpillar house.

After listening to my monarch metamorphosis and migration, and seeing videos that I have made for U-Tube with caterpillars and chrysalis' hatching, the kids were eager to visit the fight house that now has 6 species of native butterflies in it and is loaded with flowers and plants that have eggs and caterpillars on them.

The butterfly house offers a close encounter with the butterfly

The farm really enjoyed these eager-to-learn students and we hope that they can take back with them some reason to help keep butterflies and other pollinators free from insecticides. This is a must for small farms across Buncombe County that are dependent on this process to keep native plants ready for the next generation.

And, we hope that the plight of the migrating monarch will have some support in future with this next generation of learned scholars.

We offer tours regularly from now until October of the farm. Bring yourself, your family, or your friends out to learn about butterflies, alternative crops like hops, milkweed, or ramps. The farm itself is just a magnificently scenic place to visit if you just want to enjoy a family farm that is located in one of the most picturesque spots in Western North Carolina.