Elizabeth Mann's gardening adventure all began with a packet of tomato seeds. Five raised garden beds, 100 monarch butterflies, two certifications (one in permaculture, one in family herbal medicine), a book, and a move from Orlando, FL to Raleigh, NC later, she's landed at the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle Teaching Farm.
Elizabeth and her family began volunteering at the IFFS Teaching Farm in the beginning of May, and Elizabeth now cultivates her own plot as part of the IFFS Incubator Farm Program.
She grows veggies, herbs, milkweed and other butterfly host plants. She raises butterflies, and hopes to re-create the garden she and her family developed back in Orlando here in NC. Her goals include restoring the monarch butterfly population, encouraging others to grow plants that attract butterflies, as well as teaching gardening.
What's she growing right now: butternut squash, sweet corn, sunflowers (to attract pollinators), green beans, zucchini, zinnias (for the butterflies), chamomile, oregano, basil, chocolate mint, lemongrass (for distillation into essential oil), and tomatoes
AND, she's hosting a workshop at the IFFS Teaching Farm this Saturday, August 17th, from 10-11am on Butterfly Rearing and Habitat. Then stick around for a workshop on Planning your Fall Garden with Farmer Sun Butler (Cost is $10 for each of $15 for both; e-mail sun@foodshuttle.org to reserve your spot!).
Can't make it to the workshop? Keep up with Elizabeth on her blog, check out her book, or come visit the IFFS Teaching Farm another time!
The IFFS Incubator Farm Program supports and grows new viable, independent farm businesses and aims to serve as a model new-farmer program.
This past weekend large numbers of caterpillars were discovered devouring our parsley transplants in the greenhouse. Their distinctive coloring and lack of horns tipped us off that they were not the usual tomato hornworm larvae that we often see in the field. Our resident butterfly expert and incubator farmer Elizabeth Mann was called in. Elizabeth identified the culprits as Swallowtail butterfly larvae who – yes, have a predilection for parsley. Hand-picking the offending future butterflies from our transplants, Elizabeth requisitioned several parsley plants to keep them well fed in rearing boxes until they enter chrysalis in about two weeks.
Food Shuttle incubator farmer Mike Carpenter has been spreading delight and pain around the farm lately as he pursues test subjects with plates of peppers cut into tiny slivers urging them “Here! Try this one!.” Some of Mike’s fermented pepper sauces are surprisingly smooth and mild and good sources of lacto-bacillus pro-biotics. Others are being studied as candidates for materials to initiate fusion energy.