Butterfly Effect Farm

06/07/2026

eggs have hatched and early instar nymphs are active on the UMass Amherst campus. This is an established population that was first detected in 2025.

Look for nymphs on the new growth of tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima), as well as the new growth of a wide variety of trees and shrubs. Nymphs may favor cultivated roses, multiflora rose, cultivated and wild grape, perennials, black walnut and butternut.

Does your community have an established population of spotted lanternfly? Check this map provided by the MA Department of Agricultural Resources to find out: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/a25afa4466a54313b21dd45abc34b62d/page/Dashboard?views=Spotted-Lanternfly

Seeing spotted lanternfly nymphs in Massachusetts at a location not included in the above map? Please report them here: https://massnrc.org/pests/slfreport.aspx

Note: if trying to photograph or capture, nymphs move quickly and will change position to hide from you. They are also impressively strong jumpers.

Photo: A black and white spotted early instar spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) nymph rests on a tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima) branch. This nymph was approximately 0.5 cm. long. (Tawny Simisky, UMass Extension)

05/28/2026

Progress shouldn’t cost nature.

05/11/2026

The U.S. Forest Service isn’t managing forests anymore. It’s running a timber operation and poisoning everything else to do it.

A yearlong investigation by Mother Jones found that the Forest Service and private logging companies are systematically spraying thousands of acres of national forest with glyphosate (Roundup) to kill off native shrubs and wildflowers that compete with commercially valuable trees like Douglas firs and sugar pines.

After wildfires, forests naturally rebound with diverse vegetation and wildlife. What’s replacing that recovery is rows of industrial saplings surrounded by silence. No insects, birds, or flowers. It’s just dead zones.

Glyphosate application in California’s forests has quintupled over the last two decades in one year 266,000 pounds were sprayed a record. The World Health Organization classifies glyphosate as a carcinogen. The Forest Service is using it at industrial scale, on public land, to benefit private timber interests.

This is what “multiple use management” looks like when timber wins every time. Ecological health, wildlife habitat, native plant communities all of it gets written off as competition.

04/24/2026

Opening Weekend Starts Tomorrow! - https://mailchi.mp/butterflyeffectfarm/wait-is-it-march-already-12931127

04/22/2026

Happy Earth Day!

Peace, Love, and Native Plants!

04/20/2026

04/16/2026

Come see us a next week, opening for the season Saturday, April 25th!

1869 Drift Road
Westport, Mass

Online sales are open and well stocked at www.butterflyeffectfarm.com
Adding more everyday!

Peace, Love, and Native Plants!