Belle Plaine Monarch Joint Venture

08/22/2026

We can’t wait to celebrate Butterfly Days with you this Saturday, August 22, 2026, from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM!

Located at Monarch Joint Venture's Prairie Oaks Campus at 1100 W. South Street, Belle Plaine, MN 56011

FREE and family-friendly: Join us for a day of nature-themed fun!
The event will feature other community organizations and vendors, with interactive activities and items for purchase! MJV will offer a variety of activities for kids, lawn games, bounce house, llamas, and monarch tagging demonstrations throughout the event.

Food/drink trucks confirmed include: Tacos la Catrina, Eagle Concessions, Chang's Korean Kitchen.

Event sponsored by the Belle Plaine Chamber of Commerce.

07/27/2026

Join the Monarch Joint Venture and Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board this August for community alebrije-building workshops ahead of the Minneapolis Monarch Festival-Festival de la Monarca!

Join us this August for community alebrije-building workshops ahead of the Minneapolis Monarch Festival~Festival de la Monarca!
Thanks to a Community Identity & Heritage Festival Grant from the Minnesota Humanities Center, the Monarch Joint Venture and Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board are proud to bring "Alebrijes and Monarchs: A Mexican Cultural Celebration" to life — a bilingual community project led by artist Constanza Carballo celebrating alebrijes and the monarch butterfly's resilience.

Help construct large-scale alebrije sculptures alongside local artists! Free, no registration needed. All ages welcome (12 & under must be accompanied by an adult).

📍McRae Park Workshop Details
Location/Ubicación: 906 E 47th St, Minneapolis, MN
Dates/Fechas: August/Agosto 6, 13, 20, & 27
Time/Hora: 5:30 - 7:30 PM

📍East Phillips Recreation Center Workshop Details
Location/Ubicación: 2399 S 17th Ave, Minneapolis, MN
Dates/Fechas: August/Agosto 1 & 8, 5:30-7:30 PM & August/Agosto 15 & 22, 1:30-3:30 PM

U.S. Forest Service Consulmex Saint Paul

07/22/2026

Belle Plaine and Twin Cities metro community, we have extra pollinator seed mix available to share. Please comment on this post or email [email protected] if you could use a 500- or 5,000-square-foot bag of native seed mix. Tag your friends who've been wanting to support pollinators and have space to create habitat!

We also have technical assistance available for farmers and agricultural landowners in the Minnesota River Valley and Twin Cities metro - reach out to us if you would like to put in pollinator habitat and aren't sure where to start.

Photos show some of the native plants included in our free seed mix, including butterfly milkweed, mountain mint, wild bergamot, purple prairie clover and false sunflower.

Please note, we are focused on Minnesota-based distribution for this particular seed distribution.

07/09/2026

Take a two-minute tour of one of our gardens at our Prairie Oaks campus in Belle Plaine, Minnesota!

This garden has really come to life with summer blooms in the last few weeks. In this video, you can see lots of bees visiting flowers like false sunflower, wild bergamot (beebalm), butterflyweed, hoary vervain, and Culver's root, as well as a rabbit hanging out among the flowers.

What's blooming in your garden now?

Video: Becca Krasky

05/18/2026

Spring blooms!

04/21/2026

Signs of spring!

04/10/2026

From June 9 to July 13, join Miles for Monarchs, a virtual fundraiser that supports monarch conservation and encourages you to get active outdoors. Track the miles you run, walk, hike, bike, roll, or paddle—wherever you are—and make a meaningful impact for monarchs. This all-ages program is flex...

03/30/2026

Looking for part-time after school or summer work? Monarch Joint Venture is hiring at our Belle Plaine Location! We are seeking a part-time intern, focusing on the retail operations of our mission-driven store, as well as supporting our in person education, public outreach, and engagement in Belle Plaine.

Apply here: https://jobs.gusto.com/postings/monarch-joint-venture-conservation-retail-and-engagement-intern-426a83d4-b7a8-4b3b-8b8e-7574557b557c

03/26/2026

We are saying goodbye to winter at the farm! Stay tuned for updates on the many happenings we have going on this summer, from volunteer work days to summer camps, and our Butterfly Days festival! Join us to learn about pollinators, habitat, composting, wildlife, and more! We look forward to connecting with you soon!