• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Minnesota from Scratch

Thanks for stopping by! I'm Stephanie Thurow / MinnesotafromScratch and this is my website. I'm a food preservation instructor and bestselling author of Can It & Ferment It, WECK Small-Batch Preserving and WECK Home Preserving. My fourth book, Small-Scale Homesteading, is now available for pre-order! Join me here for info on food preservation, recipes, organic gardening, chicken keeping, urban homesteading and so much more.

  • Home
  • About Stephanie
  • Order my books
  • Nav Social Menu

    Connect with Me!

    • Amazon
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube

How to Raise Monarch Butterflies – Supply and Resource List

May 1, 2020 by Stephanie Leave a Comment

IMG_7312www.minnesoafromscratch.com raising-monarch-butterflies

Many of you have followed my journey of raising monarch butterflies over the last several years on my Instagram. And many of you have expressed interest in raising them yourself, and that’s why I’m writing today.

I learned everything about how to care for monarch butterflies from egg-to-butterfly from helpful blogs/videos. I’m putting together a list of resources that I feel will help you learn as well. But before that, I must mention that raising butterflies in habitats does end up feeling like a part-time job. It is a lot of work and requires daily care. If you are not up for the task, then perhaps plant pollinator-friendly flowers and milkweed in your garden instead.  Though, be sure to find out if the flowers are indeed safe for pollinators. You’d be surprised at how many nurseries receive pre-treated plants, that ultimately do more harm than good.

Also, when I talk about raising butterflies indoors, it is raising the eggs that are laid on milkweed, found outside my front door. I do not get shipped eggs/caterpillars to release into the wild. I am purely caring for the caterpillars to increase their odds of survival. In nature, less than 1 in 10 eggs laid will successfully transform into a butterfly. The caterpillars surprisingly have a lot of predators, such as bees, spiders and flies. And humans tend to poison or mow down their habitats. I’ve been raising butterflies for 5 years now and last year we successfully raised and released over 100 butterflies, which would have only been maybe 10 if left outside.

IMG_5157 (2)

I’ve compiled a list of supplies needed:

  • Milkweed. We grow common in our yard but there are many varieties. Try to pick a variety that is native to your area. You can order seeds here.
  • Butterfly habitat. I have owned 5 habitats in my 5 years of raising monarchs and this one is my favorite. I like it because one side unzips, which makes it easy to clean and another side is clear, which is fun for better viewing. The only con of this is that it is lightweight and therefore a little unstable. I fix the issue by putting a few clean rocks on the bottom of the enclosure so that it does not easily tip over. I do not support using jars or glass tanks for butterfly raising – I see people doing it all the time. The reason I don’t like it is because once the butterfly encloses, it needs to hang to dry their wings. They cannot climb on glass. If they fall before their wings are dry, it could cause them to never be able to fly properly. So, I stick to the netted enclosures and have had amazing success with them.
  • More milkweed. You will not believe how much milkweed the caterpillars go through as they grow. Each day, I clean up the butterfly habitats and clip off fresh milkweed leaves from the garden to feed the caterpillars. Be sure not to rub the milkweed milk in your eyes – it’s poison. If I leave town for a couple days, I create a vase-like set up where I can poke milkweed stems through a mason jar lid and screw the lid onto a water-filled mason jar. This allows the milkweed to stay fresh while I’m away, without the risk of the caterpillars falling into the water and drowning. The con to doing this on a daily basis is that if you are cutting away an entire stem (or many stems), you are removing that plant from the garden. I like to leave the stems outside so that more butterflies can lay eggs. If you don’t want to make a vase as I described, you can buy these.

IMG_4955 (2)

Here is a list of helpful resources to get you started:

  • Watch this video to learn how to find monarch eggs.
  • How to Raise Monarch Butterflies: A Step-by-step Guide for Kids book.
  • The Joyful Butterfly blog has a wealth of information about the topic.
  • Deanna at Homestead and Chill has a very in depth post here with additional resources linked.
  • MrLundScience on YouTube has detailed videos, just search the topic “raising monarchs” on his channel.

www.minnesoafromscratch.com

The entire process is pure magic. If you aren’t interested in raising butterflies at a large scale like we do, then caring for a couple is simple.

Children will be in awe of the transformation process. If you have specific questions, feel free to comment on this post or DM me on Instagram.

If you have other helpful resources, please leave a link in the comments.

Good luck!

This post includes affiliate links.

Filed Under: Fun Stuff (DIY), FYI, Just for Fun Tagged With: how to raise butterflies, how to raise monarch butterflies, how to raise monarch butterflies in minnesota, Milkweed, pollinator garden, pollinators, raising monarch butterflies, raising monarch butterflies resources, stephanie thurow

Harvest Right

https://affiliates.harvestright.com/1340.html

Seeds for Generations

Vegetable Garden Planning Training- Get the Most out of your Garden this Year

Mountain Rose Herbs

http://aspireiq.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=24&aff_id=9294

Nakano Knives

https://nakano-knives.com/mfromscratch

Use code MFROMSCRATCH at checkout for a special discount!

Previous Post: « Sweet Maple – Book Review
Next Post: Long Time, No Post – I’m Back! »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

FEATURED POSTS

Archives

  • November 2022
  • May 2020
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • January 2019
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • November 2017
  • August 2017
  • April 2017
  • November 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • October 2015
  • May 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • September 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013

Footer

WELCOME

Hi, I'm Stephanie. I'm the best selling author of Can It & Ferment It, WECK Small-Batch Preserving and WECK Home Preserving. My fourth book, Small-Scale Homesteading, is now available for pre-order! I'm a certified master food preserver, food preservation instructor, organic gardener, chicken keeper and nature lover. I specialize in creating easy to follow recipes and directions to help other homesteaders meet their goals.

Copyright © 2023 · Midnight theme