Since my last post I have been doing some web research and found that Cabbage White caterpillars are a pest from Oregon - where they are called cabbage worms and attack broccoli in particular - to Hobart, Australia (home of one branch of my husband's family). I found a variety of biological control suggestions on the Australian site wwwglobalnetacademy.edu.au and from the Americans. British sites such as www.growveg.co.uk were also helpful.
I also realised that I may have inadvertently destroyed the cocoons of parasitic wasps that feed on the caterpillars, mistaking them for caterpillar pupae. I will not do this again.
All these methods from spraying bacteria to dusting baking soda mixed with flour looked to have some merit, although I regret that our house sparrows have not taken the hint and started to catch caterpillars.
All this is small-scale, very appropriate to our veg. patch and ecologically friendly gardening, but it leaves me wondering what is happening on our farms. Consumers expect perfect broccolli free of frass (caterpillar droppings) so how is this achieved commercially and what impact are preventative methods having on the environment?
Finally, in the words of a television programme of my youth 'Don't try this at home, boys and girls'. Please take this post as a personal reflection only, and take responsibility for your own gardening actions. Thank you.
PS My husband is, even now, assembling the frames for the netting.
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