New Zealand Garden Diary: Brassicas and Pests

Keeping cabbage whites off the brassicas - Click to see options for using the image

It is cooling off now in Lyttelton, New Zealand and that means NO MORE CABBAGE WHITE BUTTERFLIES! Hooray!

And a gardening program I watch (Gardening Australia) suggested using vegemite in snail traps. Apparently it is the yeasty smell they are attacted to in beer traps. I hate using good beer in traps, so I’m trying a sugary yeast solution. We’ll see if it works.

New Zealand Garden Diary: Kale Grows Like a Weed

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I grew this kale from seeds I planted out last autumn, once the last of the cabbage whites (which can make any leaves of the cabbage family look like lacework) had disappeared. It provides leaves for stir fries and stews and Diana Henry’s great pasta dish with hazelnuts. So I’m delighted it has kept growing and I’m wondering whether the new lot I’ve planted will grow by the time this bunch has gone to seed.