Meet the Milkweed Man on a Quest to Help Monarch Butterflies

Photo caption: Steve Bushey is a champion of milkweed, an essential host plant for the monarch butterfly. Photo credit: Sarah Bryant. Article by Kirsten Lie-Nielsen. Modern Farmer – June 23, 2023.

Before dawn on an October morning, a thick fog winds its way down the many trails of Maine’s Peaks Island, coating the trees and fields in a gray blanket. A man makes his way along the trails, peering through the mist to admire the gardens kept by the thousand or so year-round residents. You might think that he is just an early riser on a casual walk, but Steve Bushey is on the hunt for milkweed seed pods of the common milkweed (asclepias syriaca), and he knows just where to find them. […

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