"0tterbot" wrote in message
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message

Have you tried makign fake ones out of an old 2 Litre milk container?
Cut them to shape of a CW in flight and put some black spots on them and
then put them on satay skewers near brassicas. I'm quite convinced that
they work to keep off the real CW flutterbys.

you'll never believe it but i haven't got round to that yet. :-/

Well we'll be into deep frosts at any moment and they'll not be a major
problem till next year, so no hurry.

also, the idea behind the cages was to keep out birds & mammals too. i
have, however, taken your "quite convinced" statement on board!!

:-)) But you do know of course about the placebo effect?

I was impressed, but then I was prepared to be. And I quite enjoyed cutting
out and colouring in the little fake cabbage moths.

other than that we are having/have had
big problems with furry creatures & now the ****ing rabbits are back,

No nearby Jack Russell to lend a hand?

my dog has killed rabbits in the past, but frankly he's getting more &
more dim in his middle age & prefers lolling in the sun, dammit.

:-)) My small *******s don't like going out into the midday sun, but
fortunatley that isn't when the bunnies are around so they still catch some.
But now we're ahving a bun discussion, I havent' seen one now for a few
weeks so keep your fingers crossed.

I guess I also couldn't be described as a fnatic about the stakign and
tieing up, but I don't mind the other care of them. Himself liked to do
the bondage thing to the toms.

after there are some veggie cages happening & all the other stuff i'm
meant to be doing, it might be worthwhile to make some mobile growing-up
frames for things like this, as i'm just not getting good pea crops along
the ground & i DO love peas! snow peas grow very well at my place, but the
dwarf ones along the ground just aren't cutting it imo.

My peas weren't very good this year either. Have decided to try some snow
peas but it's prolly getting a wee bit late for them here. But I won't know
till I give it a go - jhave cleared a spot for them.

in this same way, the very idea of growing fruit trees bores me to sobs.
if they go well on their own, that's great. otherwise, i just don't give
a shit, it's too much trouble. i thought i was interested in fruit like
i'm interested in veg, but apparently i was wrong.

Hmm. Interesting. In what way don't you like it? I get the same sort
of thrill from watching my trees as I do the veg. I like to see them
respond after pruning and when given food and water etc.

well, i don't really know, but there it is!! i'm just not that into them.
also, i'm not big on most kinds of fruit - i think that is the underlying
problem for me - i just don't care that much :-)) i really like berries
though, so can imagine taking the trouble. (also, significantly, berry
plants are _smaller_ than trees.) if i lived in the tropics i'd definitely
have bananas, cos i love those (and again, they're smaller).

I suppose I'm not really a huge fruit eater either but I still love growing
them. and I know wha tyou mean about berries - love all of them.

Didn't notice any swearing. I just noticed technical descriptions
commonly used by gardeners.

ahem, that's right :-)

speaking of snakes, we had to kill a brown snake the other day

Oh POOP! I thought there were only Red Bellied Blacks out there!


- it had set
up shop just outside the yard, & i could foresee a snakebite waiting to
happen - it kept coming in for water presumably. it's really a shame as i
have no problem with snakes, but under the circumstances it was clear one
of us would end up in hospital at some stage if we didn't get rid of it.
and it seemed wildly absurd to get one of the wildlife people to try to
relocate it.

And they won't come anyway unless you ring them on the mobile phone whilst
watching the snake and trailing after it. They insist on you being able to
show them exactly where it is the instant they arrive. They wont' tolerate
a vague "it went over there..." type comment.

Himself mowed up a huge one not so long ago - didn't even see it but I
assume it might have had a go at the mower given the location of the cut up
body. I can tolerate the Tiger Snakes but I really do not like Browns - too
edgy for my liking. Mind you, given how much the bloody dogs have cost in
treatment, I could have bought myself a .410 at least 4 times over by now.
Must put in my application to add one to my collection - I'm sick of saying
I'm going to get one.