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the crawling female winter mothCut off whole trusses of unripe fruits from outdoor tomatoes before they're hit by frost and ripen in a sheltered spotPlant out spring cabbagesDig up onions and lay them out in an airy space to dry before storing

all over south London, caused by caterpillars of the tiny moth Cameraria ohridella. Sure enough, the maple was growing right next door to a horse-chestnut so heavily attacked that it had browned prematurely for autumn.It turns out that this recent

Dulwich). All ichneumons are parasitic, laying their eggs in a wide range of insects, but especially moth and butterfly caterpillars. The venom injected at the same time contains an immunosuppressant, preventing the immune system of the host insect from

and a wonderful stripy frog.Unlike most of her gardening friends, Fabiana grows native plants for moths and birds. A former farm, the land was sown mainly with Italian rye grass for grazing animals. Fabiana removed most of this grass and replaced

!).We've grown the classic round summer cabbage which is moth-eaten or rather caterpillar eaten after the attentions of the cabbage white butterfly babies. Looks terrible but tastes lovely - once you've fought your way through all the ragged outer leaves! All

the upper regions of the compost food-chain, feeding on the clouds of fruit flies, moth flies and other small insects that devour the endless cascade of banana skins and potato peels. I'm not sure what species they are, but I'll keep an eye out to see what

for codling moth larvae. Once they’ve been removed, everything else goes in – even the odd bit of grass.The apples need to be broken up before being squashed, and I copy Eric’s method of freezing them solid, then defrosting them thoroughly. Freezing breaks

.Don't let orchid plants get too hot in summer: they will stop growing above 30°C so make sure they receive adequate ventilation.Growing house plantsCaring for orchids, with advice from Sarah Raven.Growing cacti.Planting aloe in a container.Moth orchid blog

and dropped to the floor. And yesterday the cats brought in a huge black and grey moth - the old lady, Mormo maura - which fluttered around the kitchen ceiling until rescued.Wednesday also brought the first large cabbage white butterfly of the year. I don

in the long grass and herbage (away from flowers) for moth caterpillars in which to lay its eggs. This is the first time I've seen it in the garden. It sunned itself for a few seconds, then it was off.