Our mission is to provide sanctuary for the monarch butterfly. The purpose of Happy Tonics is to promote organic gardening, the importance of seed saving, and open pollination for biodiversity. The organization is dedicated to teaching about the risks of invasive species and genetic engineering to the food supply, and  their impact on the environment, other species, indigenous native crops, and health. 
We provide educational  lectures, a film, and CD photo presentations on organic gardening, the plight of the monarch butterfly, and food safety issues. We offer milkweed seed to promote the planting of milkweed in order to provide food for the monarch. Milkweed is the host plant, and the insect is dependent upon this plant for its survival.

Editor's Corner
Medicine Walk with Crows
by Mary Ellen Ryall

10 June 2006,
5:30 A.M. -  It was 35°F this morning and unseasonably cold. Hearing wrens and robins calling, I put on warm clothes and went for a walk around the loop, a 3/4 mile circle.
  Stopping at the senior center, I saw monarch caterpillars on the underside of leaves, sleeping off the cold. Approaching the grassy butterfly field where butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) was about to bloom, I noticed  the eastern sky was lit in rosy hue, and sunlight sparkled through jack pine trees.

  A crow gave warning that I was passing and another joined in cawing. I expect they were trying to keep me away from a nest, somewhere close by, in the fragmented forest. The birds circled above me, and I noticed one crow had a missing wing. A few days ago, I saw the bird with a misplaced wing, still lodged within its wingspan, and wondered how the crow would get by.
  Putting down my coffee cup, I began doing tai chi chuan, a form of  meditation in motion. It was too beautiful outside not to

honor the morning. The air smelled sweet, and tall wild roses greeted me as I turned, facing south.
  Returning home, I gazed into the backyard thinking, I am so fortunate to live in a peaceful world of plants, birds and butterflies, forests, sandy prairie grasslands, and sky. I watched as robins hopped about enjoying a breakfast of earthworms. Now, I would go outside once again to feed the crows some bread. I wanted to thank them for visiting me and telling their story this morning.   

Monarch caterpillar sleeping on underside of milkweed leaf.
Photo by Mary Ellen Ryall.