Tuesday 27 November 2012

Dear cabbage white butterflies



Did you think we were running a breeding program? You might well see armies upon armies of your young feasting on our kale leaves as you flutter and hover, but that's not to say you are welcome to lay your eggs in the hope they'll hatch and fatten up nicely.

I am trying to feed my young, not yours. So with that in mind we've planted our own white butterflies to fool you – you apparently don't like competition so we're hoping you'll clear off somewhere else.

Only thing is it did fool you. You left our kale alone and today I caught a few amongst the wild rocket and one of your fat teenagers with his head buried inside my biggest tomato. Since when were you interested in tomatoes?

Tomorrow I'm going to scatter eggshell and make more friendly butterflies* for the tomatoes and rocket. Hopefully, you'll leave the garden for good.

In the meantime, whose chickens would love a bucket full of delicious green caterpillars? High in protein, organic... and hand-picked, of course.

*I made the butterflies by cutting out shapes from used cream cheese pots, then cut slits to attach to sticks. Large pieces of eggshell are also meant to confuse the butterflies and with any luck they'll lay their eggs somewhere 'safer'.

8 comments:

  1. i thought you had managed to impale one! what a clever idea- i've been checking each morning, out in my pjs with my spray bottle, ranting like the village crazy garden lady. oh dear. ;)sarah

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh I know Sarah, they send me crazy too. I sneak up on them as I'm hanging the washing and Luca meanwhile (because he's obviously heard me!) repeats: YOU'RE NOT WELCOME HERE!

      Delete
  2. You're a lifesaver Vanessa. I'm doing this too. I lost a whole pile of Kale to the little monsters.

    ReplyDelete
  3. They are devastating Vanessa! My gardener grandfather chases them away with a tennis racket....sure you've got time for that!! Tx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Actually someone's just given me the idea of chasing the butterflies with a net, so I might catch them with Graeme's fishing net! I'm sure it will amuse the boys!

      Delete
  4. this is clever ... and they look rather sweet!

    ReplyDelete
  5. i agree - this is clever. who would have thought. and they look lovely sitting there too. xo

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have had to chase the white butterflies away from my dear little broccoli plants (that I seem to have been raising forever).

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for popping over. I'd love to hear from you. Even if it's just to say hello.

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.