I dislike social media. I would leave it all behind if it weren't for my Facebook groups, where much of my non-experimental learning and sense of community comes from. Instagram is a different beast all together. I miss the (very long ago) days when Instagram was a collection of beautiful photographs, and you could learn … Continue reading 100 Days of Happiness V2.0
Over the few months, a beautiful friendship has been cemented between Localeaf (our nursery), Pollinate Aylmer (our incredible group of local volunteers), and Partenaires du Secteur Aylmer (our mentors, enablers, and now partners in helping us bring back the butterflies, fireflies, pollinators and other wildlife in our community). We've grown so much that we found … Continue reading Pollinate Aylmer and our Winter Happenings
I've been meaning to write this, but fall is a very busy time for an 'almost nursery', as I'm learning. The incredible people of Pollinate / Polliniser Aylmer, who made this happen, already know about it, so it's been waiting patiently on the back of my mind, behind some last minute planting projects, and life. … Continue reading Everything you ever wanted to know about the Butterflyway Aylmer (2025 edition)
Yesterday Pollinate Aylmer completed stop #11 on the Aylmer Butterflyway, at the Aylmer Food Bank (Centre Allimentaire Aylmer). You can read the details of how we built it, and the plants we planted, but more importantly, we are hoping our community can help. We are looking for dozens, even hundreds, of crochet squares and flowers, to cover up the flimsy fence of the foodbank.
We bought our new home for the possibilities, projects and experiments it afforded us, in the quiet of the countryside just outside the city limits, but where school buses still stop to pickup our 3 kids en route to 3 different schools. Here, our neighbour walks her horse up and down our street to graze … Continue reading Making a Tiny Forest, the Miyawaki way
Preparation We spent a few weeks discussing, planning and preparing for planting a pollinator garden and native habitat at Lord Aylmer Elementary. The kids in the outdoor education program worked hard with their teachers to build 6 raised planters to border their outdoor adventure playground. In pouring rain, their teachers proudly told us, they assembled … Continue reading Creating a Butterflyway stop and native pollinator habitat gardens at an elementary school
I went to a therapy session right after our most recent Butterflyway planting, still wearing my giant monarch wings and Butterflyway Ranger t-shirt, excited to gush to my therapist about the morning I had spent with some of my Pollinate Aylmer peeps and two classes of kindergarten kids building little pollinator habitats at a local … Continue reading The very personal downward spiral of crumpled butterfly wings
I've been quiet. It's a great feeling, because we've been so busy outside this first spring in our new place, with so many ideas and discoveries and projects, and dirty hands with mud-crusted nails, and if you know me you know that means I am happy. We finally got around to starting one project both … Continue reading A purpose-built (future) rain garden
As our little Facebook group Pollinate / Pollinisez Aylmer prepares to begin planting Butterflyway gardens across Aylmer next week (watch this space), I am so moved and humbled by how we have begun coming together, and what this little group of perfect strangers 6 weeks ago have begun putting in motion. Swamp Milkweed seedlings at … Continue reading Gratitude Post
The quick pollinator shade garden I made last week is doing great. I think I may have cooked some of the really early spring bloomers by waiting so late to plant them, but they are rebounding and will come back next year. Today I checked on them and found a couple of patches of Virginia … Continue reading A groomed garden bed approach to killing my lawn to build pollinator habitat
LocaLeaf 