A Butterfly Farmer is anyone who helps the ecology of butterflies by growing larval host plants, nectar sources, and the proper shelter for that species.

An accomplished butterfly farmer will have raised several generations of multiple species of butterfly through their entire life-cycle. But more than that, they will learn more deeply about their butterfly. They will learn the behaviors of their caterpillars. They will see the patterns in the leaf chewing. They will advocate for their butterfly, spreading the word about Butterfly Farming.

They will probably name or number each caterpillar, and keep track in some sort of a log or diary, slowly gathering valuable data.

They will know the pain of losing a newly hatched Monarch, hand-raised from a caterpillar the size of a grain of rice. They will know the joy of releasing a butterfly into the sky, to have it return to their hand the next day as if it remembered them.

They will have installed countless larval host plants, simply for the purpose of giving life to more butterflies and for the enjoyment of others. Because everyone loves a butterfly.

Most of all, for Johnny, Butterfly Farming isn’t a business, its a mission.