Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Update from the rooftop garden - caterpillars

The great thing about this being only my second summer in the UK is that I can continue to learn what works well on the rooftop and what does not. Brussels sprouts, well, perhaps not so much the winner:


Not sure if they had those 'spot the hiding object' pictures in other places like they did in the US when I was growing up, but this one is a fine one with the nice blend of greens.

And if anyone in Essex wants to feed approximately 15 or so live caterpillars to some sort of pet like a bird, lizard, or whatever else would eat them, please let me know. I imagine they'll taste like brussel sprout leaves since they've basically demolished the two plants.



Of course, I imagine that this veritable siege of locusts, er caterpillars, is due to the fact that their natural predators, the rooftop birds stay well away, due to the every vigilant presence of Slocombe the mightly attack cat.

Good thing I still have one plant out on the back terrace. Now...how to dispose of the caterpillars, beyond throwing them in the rubbish bin. Hmm...

2 comments:

Kristin said...

I have a dog I can ship over who would eat them ;D

heather in europe said...

Kristin: heheh, Slocombe the cat might have something to say about that. ;-)