Game! Set! Match!

I ordered myself a pair of badminton rackets, which also included 2 shuttlecocks, and they arrived yesterday afternoon.

I was SO excited and couldn't wait to head outside to start using and work on my form!

Oh, perhaps you got the wrong idea, I am NOT planning on using these on the badminton field of play, NO!

Let me explain - these rackets are ideal for eliminating, yet another garden pest nemesis of mine, the dreaded Cabbage Moth, see below.  They lay their eggs on my broccoli and kale plants and before you know it they hatch and the worms take little time in their destruction.  Eating the leaves and pooping all over the fruits, YUCK!

There are oodles of them this year too, flittering around my yard, flowers and veggies.

From the untrained eye it might look like I'm having a seizure, as I'm chasing these moths around the yard, swinging wildly and cursing but I like to think of it as cardo and an exercise in hand eye coordination.

Don't be fooled, it's not as easy as you might think.  These moths flutter up, down, sideways and all ways, so timing and aim needs to be precise.

I am happy to report that on my initial use I went 5 for 6 in less than 15 minutes.

Game on!

Moth Decoys

I got my cabbage moth decoys in order and placed out with my broccoli.

Supposedly the butterflies are territorial and will not deposit their eggs if they think another female has staked her claim to that area.

I'm not sure how effective these are but if it deters even one moth from visiting my plants and laying eggs then it's worth it.  They doesn't cost anything other than time really.  Also, not sure how hanging them with clothespins will do but that's all I have for now.

The broccoli plants are doing fantastic. I even built wire cages to keep them protected from the rabbits and deer, which seem to be visiting on a regular basis these days.

Pest of Pests

Here's a really good illustration of insect damage to our Kale.

This was done by the caterpillar of the Cabbage moth. Seemingly over night too.

  The caterpillars are so tiny, at first, they're hard to notice, especially with the curly leaves and as the plant gets larger, they blend in well.

I read that the female cabbage moth is very territorial, so I put our stakes with cut-out pictures of female cabbage moths. Clearly this doesn't work in the long run.  Perhaps, early on but as the summer moves along more and more moths visit.  For this, I keep an old tennis rack nearby and do my best John McEnroe on their asses, which I suspect is more comical for the neighbors than it is successful at killing the SOBs.

An Imitation Used by Hunters to Attract Others

Turns out the cabbage moth is apparently territorial.

These darn pest, if  unchecked, the caterpillars can seriously impact the quality of the developing plant. Usually, by the time you start to see the moths flitting about your brassicas, the eggs have been laid and damage is already being done.

So, I've reverted to providing "look-alike" or decoys among my broccoli and kale plants, see above.  The decoys work when made to look like the female moth, identified by the 2 spots on the upper wings.

I also keep an old tennis racket handy and swat them every chance I get.

It's a battle every gardening season, from the small, seemingly harmless moth, to the large and destructive four-legged Odocoileus virginianus or white-tailed deer.

Game on!

Insect Pests - GO AWAY!

 

A Green Imported Cabbageworm and Cross-striped Cabbageworm is a common pest of cabbage family members and both VERY bad and damaging.  They will do a number on broccoli, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, mustard, radish, turnip, etc.

 

Although, we've had oodles of Cabbage Moths this past Summer these pests didn't appear until the Fall.  They've done a number on the radish greens and now doing the same to the Kale.

 

The good news is that the chickens love them, but there are just too many and too small to pick all.

Find the Insect IX

Can you find the insect in the above picture?

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This is a Small Cabbage White caterpillar that is hiding in and eating our kale. This particular caterpillar is probably the most destructive of all of the caterpillars, devouring cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kale and kohlrabi. We also have Large Cabbage White caterpillars - you can see one in the picture below. It's surprising just how many caterpillars there are. However, there were an abundance of their associated moths all over our yard this summer, so I guess it stands to reason why there are so many caterpillars now.

The best solution is to remove the caterpillars by hand. This is what Emilie and I have been doing, as you can see in the picture below and this was just one picking session. We've done this numerous times and removed as many, if not more each time. Now, I bet your asking yourself what do we do with these pests once picked - well, Lucy, Ethel and New Honey absolutely LOVE them and devour them! We've also feed some to a couple frogs we found in our pool and kept for several days and they too loved them. I will need to make more of an effort to catch the moths next summer before they mate and lay their eggs...