This growing season we grew our kale under a net. We made a simple brassica “cage” with plastic pipes and netting draped over it. It’s worked a treat. It’s been a No-Go area for the Cabbage White butterflies. They can’t gain entry.

On hot summer days, I’ve seen up to five of these butterflies hovering over the net. They’ve been desperately looking for a hole to sneak in and lay their eggs. But to no avail…

Until now.

See, a vegetable garden is always an evolving project. When your plants have finished cropping, you pull them. This creates space for new plants. And we’ve been filling up these spaces with more brassica crops – January King cabbages and broccoli.

And this has created a problem for us.

You see, these new plants are being planted randomly around the garden in vacant spaces. This means they’re vulnerable to the egg-filled butterflies. And they’ve seized on this opportunity to lay eggs galore on the underside leaves. Left untreated the caterpillars will strip the leaves, leaving barren stalks in their place.

We could always pull some plants, which have not finished cropping to create a space and build another brassica cage. Or we can make a homemade caterpillar spray.

Here are some of the options for making your own natural caterpillar spray;

1. Soapy water – Add a tablespoon of soapy water to one litre of water. Spray your caterpillars. It won’t kill them but makes leaves too slippery to live on.

2. Garlic and pepper – Puree one whole bulb of garlic. Add a tablespoon of finely ground red pepper-like cayenne. Also a tablespoon of washing up liquid. Add to one gallon of water. Let the mixture stand for 24 hours. Then use a hand sprayer. This mixture will kill caterpillars.

3. Chilli spray – Add 3 ½ ozs of dried red chilli powder to 4 pints of boiling water. Simmer for 5 minutes. Then add 4 pints of cold water. Add a tablespoon of washing up liquid. Let your mixture stand for 24 hours. Then spray your caterpillars. This mixture kills caterpillars.

4. Encourage birds into your vegetable garden. Feed them on the ground between your plants. Put a bird table of two in the garden. Your birds will feast on your caterpillars.

5. Vinegar – spray Add 2 tablespoons of water to 4 pints of water. Spray the caterpillars. You can also spray neat vinegar onto slugs to kill them when you have a slug problem.

6. Build a brassica cage to foil the butterflies. They’re inexpensive to make. And your plants will thank you for it.

7. Hand removal – Inspect your leaves on a daily basis for eggs or caterpillars. And dispose of them. This is effective. But trouble with this method is it’s time-consuming.

8. Companion planting – There are certain plants that deter caterpillars. These plants include; Lavender, Sage, Peppermint, Mugwort. You could always place containers with these plants and herbs caterpillars hate.

So now you have a list of ways you can use to stop your butterflies laying eggs and filling your garden with a horde of starving caterpillars. Or if your plants are under attack from caterpillars you now have some natural caterpillar killers!