Marion County Extension 210 N. Iowa St. Knoxville, IA 50138 641.842.2014 [email protected]

October, 2013 Volume 11, Issue 10 The Green Scene

Save a tree! Send your email address to [email protected] to receive this publication via e-mail. a tree! Send your email address to [email protected] to receive this publication via e-mail. White Breast Pottery & Weaving

Sharon Seuferer & Carol Oliver started White Breast Pottery & Weaving in 2000. Their business is located east of Lacona in western Marion County. White Breast Creek (which eventually dumps into Lake Red Rock) runs through their farm and that is where they go to harvest the clay they use to make their pottery. They don gum boots and go down to the creek, dig it out from under the water (that’s where they find the cleanest clay), dry it, then pound it into powder. Once it is pow- der, they put it through a screen sieve to eliminate all the twigs, pebbles and other debris. Sometimes they find beauti- ful fern fossils and occasionally an arrowhead. Once it’s clean, the powder is reconstituted and can be worked. Sha- ron throws the clay on a wheel while Carol creates slab pottery. Hand building pottery using slabs of clay is an exciting way to create shapes that could nev- er be produced using a potter’s wheel. She makes Christmas orna- ments and recently created a beautiful casserole dish.

During this year’s Farm Crawl (see page 2), visitors can see how the local clays are used in making pieces that reflect the area. View the beautiful loom-woven rugs made onsite, visit their herd of five miniature horses, and hear Sharon’s “One Woman Band and Friends” CD (she’s performed for more than 30 years at the Iowa State Fair).

“The Green Scene” is a tip sheet developed by the Marion County Extension Office to inform people of horticulture events, problems, and interesting ideas. Let us know if you want to be added to our mailing list. Some issues are also available at www.extension.iastate.edu/marion/. This material has been prepared Karen Ackley, Agriculture Program Assistant. If you have questions, please contact the office at (641) 842-2014. Reflections on a Monarch Butterfly

By Laura Jesse, Plant & Insect Diagnostic Clinic, monarchs wait out the cold to possibly losing this Iowa State University forever. It doesn't seem possible somehow. Mon- archs have always been so ever-present around me.

My monarch has no idea that he is about to begin a very long and dangerous journey to the south. He will respond to the cues that have sent his ancestors to Mexico for generations. I admired his beauty and for the first time, as I watched him flit away into the sunny afternoon, I wondered if he will be the last monarch I get to raise.

This fall as you notice a monarch catching a warm breeze, stop and think, maybe for the first time since I was recently releasing a monarch butterfly that I you were a kid, about what amazing creatures they had reared from a caterpillar when I was struck with are. Think about their ability to feed on milkweed the realization that I may be witnessing the end of that is toxic to most animals, the way they can se- something. Last winter the monarch overwintering quester this toxin and be protected by it as adults, population was the lowest on record and if this con- their beautiful green chrysalises with the golden tinues monarch migrations could be a thing of the spots, and the amazing journey they take each fall. past.

Raising monarch butterflies as a child is what in- spired me to be an entomologist. I love all insects, Win $50!!! but have always been most fond of caterpillars. As a graduate student working on the effects of agricul- Enter Knoxville Federat- tural practices on monarch butterflies, I learned that ed Garden Club’s Create the overwintering sites in Mexico were discovered a Scarecrow Contest on October 12th! NO Entry on the day I was born January 2, 1975. What a cool Fee!!! Go to coincidence I thought, maybe I was destined to al- www.extension. ways be connected to monarchs. iastate.edu/marion for all the details. As I held that monarch on my finger I couldn't quite grasp that in my lifetime we went from discovering the overwintering areas where tens of millions of

Sunday, October 6th from 11:00 am – 5:00 pm Go to http://www.farmcrawl.com/ for complete details.

“The Green Scene” is a tip sheet developed by the Marion County Extension Office to inform people of horticulture events, problems, and interesting ideas. Let us know if you want to be added to our mailing list. Some issues are also available at www.extension.iastate.edu/marion/. This material has been prepared Karen Ackley, Agriculture Program Assistant. If you have questions, please contact the office at (641) 842-2014.