Butterfly Farm Has a Mission: Education
By Katie Cline

Tim Pless is a farmer, but he doesn’t have any seeds to plant or fields to plow. He’s a butterfly farmer and the only one in North Carolina.

“We were looking for business opportunities, and my wife saw butterfly farming over the internet,” Pless said. “And I kind of looked at it, and me being from kind of a male background, a sports background, said, ‘Honey, I don’t want to be a butterfly farmer.’”

His company, ‘All-a-flutter’, first sold butterflies over the internet for special occasions. Three years ago they started giving tours of their farm in High Point.

“ We really wanted to educate the community on butterflies, and that’s why we do the presentation and give people the opportunity to feel real close to the butterflies,” Pless said.

“ Lots of times you go to different places and you can see them but you can’t really be up close to them, and I think this gives the kids hands on experience,” he said

People of all ages come during the butterfly season…from April until October.

“ It’s pretty cool to see a butterfly this up close,” said six-year-old Braxton Hichey.

“ I think its cool, and I’ve never caught a butterfly,” said eight-year-old Carolina Collins.

But for Pless, it’s just another day on the farm, and it looks like he’s gotten over his issues with raising butterflies.