MEI to be at Earth Day in Anamosa

Earth Day Fair & Grant Wood Trail Pancake Breakfast

Sunday, April 17 ... 8 AM - 1 PM

Lawrence Community Center - 600 E Main St, Anamosa, IA 

Dawn Leon will man a Monarchs in Eastern Iowa table at this event and will speak at 11 a.m.  Dawn is also the creater of The Caterpillar Chronicles

Educational sessions begin at 10 AM with Master Gardener Spring Planting Tips and Tricks with Kim Miller and "THE AMAZING MONARCH - SHARE THE MAGIC" Program with DAWN LEON -  representing Monarch in Eastern Iowa.

This event will have over 35 booths featuring local conservation efforts and clubs. Many of the booths will feature fun and eye opening hands on demonstrations and interactive activities for young and old alike.
Click for more information
Facebook Event

Plant seed in flats now

NOW is the time to start milkweed seeds indoors for planting outside after the last frost!  Explore other tabs on this blog to find information on how!

Eagle Scout Project a great success

Ben Elliott accomplished a great deed with his Eagle Scout Project - inviting the public to help make milkweed seed balls.  The event was held on Saturday, March 12, 2016 at NewBo Market in Cedar Rapids in conjunction with the Milkweed Matters 2016 RAGBRAI Initiative, and Monarchs in Eastern Iowa. Over 100 "rollers" (including LOTS of children) participated in producing 4,040 seed balls in a period of about 6 hours.  KUDOS to Ben and all his helpers!  The milkweed seed balls will be offered to bicycle riders on RAGBRAI to toss along roadways all across Iowa during the ride from July 24th through the 30th. Milkweed Matters' goal is to make 35,000 seed balls by the time RAGBRAI starts.

Visit the 2016 RAGBRAI Seedball Initiative  See how YOU can be involved!

HELP FUND the Seedball Initiative  35,000 seed balls means a LOT of clay and trays to hold them.  Educational materials will be needed for tables and booths at RAGBRAI stops.

Visit Milkweed Matters on Facebook      Milkweed Matters on Twitter

Click the photos to enlarge them.

"Rollers" are shown busy at work at NewBo Market on March 12th.  

Kelly Guilbeau of Milkweed Matters talks to news media during the event.
See the coverage at KCRG

More March events

Make Milkweed Seed Balls at
NewBo  City Market in Cedar Rapids
Saturday, March 12 - 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Click for Facebook event page

This is an Eagle Scout project in conjunction with Milkweed Matters RAGBRAI initiative.

Join us at the Newbo City Market on March 12th to learn about the monarch butterfly population and help grow it with milkweed seed balls! Milkwe
ed is the sole host for monarch eggs; without milkweed we would lose the already declining monarch population. Our seed balls will help reestablish the milkweed habitats. Milkweed Matters and Monarchs in Eastern Iowa will be distributing over 35,000 milkweed seed balls across the 2016 RAGBRAI route.
Visit Milkweed Matters to find out more! 

We need your help to make our share of the output! You can come anytime between 10am and 4pm.

2016 RIGHTS-OF-WAY WORKSHOP

Iowa's Living Landscapes: Challenges and Opportunities for the Future.
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Kirkwood Community College, Ballantyne Auditorium
6301 Kirkwood Blvd SW, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Click here for the 2-page .pdf brochure
for schedule and more information

There is no charge for this program.  Lunch is on your own in The Cafe at Kirkwood.  Exhibit tables for this year will be in the atrium area just outside Ballantyne Auditorium.  Our own Patty Ankrum and Andria Cossolotto from Monarchs in Eastern Iowa will be presenting at this workshop among many others.

Please register before noon on Thursday, March 10th at Linn County Conservation Deprtment, 319-892-6458, or email Amanda Bieber (at) linncounty.org.

(See other event by clicking on the "Events Calendar" tab at the top of the page.)