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 and 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
Bike Riding:  Butterfly and Herb Adventure
by Mary Ellen Ryall

remains of the plants.  Many of the leaves were already gone.  Curious, I watched two caterpillars eating milkweed flowers.  I had neither seen nor heard of caterpillars eating the flowers.
  Then I rode my bike to the ballpark on the other side of the village.  Last year, I saw many monarch caterpillars on common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) in the field there.  This year, the village cut down the field, and there were neither milkweed nor monarchs.  Instead, I saw wild red raspberries (Rubus strigosus) and

field horsetail (Equisetus arvense) growing on a hillside in the nearby woods.  I use horsetail in herbal remedies and needed a new wild crafting place.  Before riding home, I gathered the herb, and am drying it now for winter use.  Some black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) lay trampled on the ground, by the side of the dirt road, and I bent down to pick the flowers.  Placing the flowers in an old mayonnaise jar, the wildflowers dress up the picnic table in the backyard, and the flowers cheer me.

  On a beautiful summer morning recently, I got up early and rode my bike to the pond on the edge of the village.  Sitting still on a log bench, I watched two least bitterns (Ixobrychus exilis) fly into cedar trees, and a small fish jumped in the water.  Then my eyes wandered to the other side of the pond, where pink flowers bloomed along the water's edge.
  Walking over to investigate, I noticed the plants were swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), and several monarch caterpillars were eating the

Village pond with swamp milkweed and monarch caterpillars.
Photo by Mary Ellen Ryall.