In the peace and sunshine of Grey Lynn, in the land

To begin your farm, you need food for the caterpillars. This is the Swan Plant, which is quite easy to grow from seed. Swan Plant seeds can be purchased cheaply from plant shops and supermarkets, or people who have flourishing Swan Plants are usually happy to give you spare seeds. Each pod produces many hundreds of seeds, all similar to a windsurfer with a large sail. When the pod dries and bursts open, the airfoils disperse seeds by wind over long distances. For growing, we recommend buckets with three plants in each. Small pots are no good, as there is insufficient room for the roots to spread and make a big bush. In your bucket, drill seven holes in the bottom, and nine more around the side at various levels, for water drainage. Put a few dried leaves in the bottom with some twigs, then a few handfuls of small pebbles mixed with lumps of wood. On top of that, layer soil two centimetres deep (one inch), then on top of that, place five orange skins, lemons or grapefruit serve equally well. These skins should be placed like bowls, so they will trap water seeping down from above.

A thick layer of compost or decaying food scraps can be put on top of the nest of fruit skins. This will be the nourishment for the plants. One good trick is to take half a kilogram of excrement, wrap it in newspaper, and put it midway in the centre of the compost. When the roots reach to it, they will be very nourished!

The compost layer should not fill the bucket more than 60% full. Now, add five centimeters of soil, then on top of this, place three Swan Plant seedlings, which you may have raised en masse in a separate tray. Do not dig down into the soil to plant the seedlings, as the roots should not have direct contact with the compost at this delicate stage. What you need to do is let the compost continue decaying so that in several weeks' time, when the plants send roots down that far, they will locate the rich nourishment.

Hold each plant upright as you carefully add more soil around it. After each plant has a mound surrounding it to prop it upright, continue to add more soil to raise the bucket level to near the top. We suggest adding a sunflower seed, parsley, mint, or other flower plant to the bucket to brighten its appeal. It is vital to attract bees to your plants for pollination.

In hot weather, add some water to your plants each evening after sunset, if it has not rained during the day. In rainy season, there is no need to add water. It is a good idea to recycle water, and use second-hand water on your plants. Such water can include urine, water from cooking (but only if salt is not used in the cooking), water from rinsing vegetables, and rinsings from coffee cups, tea cups, etc. But do not use any water that has had soaps and detergents added to it.

You should place your plants in sunny areas so they can get lots of sun during the day. As they develop, passing butterflies will smell them and fly in to visit. The eggs can be clearly seen as tiny white ovals on tops and bottoms of the leaves. We suggest carefully rolling most of the eggs off and squashing them. Too many caterpillars will eat all available leaves, and bring genocide to all your caterpillars.

Another problem is snails, who are always keen to eat Swan Plant leaves. Make a habit of doing a night patrol with a torch to check all your plants each evening before you go to sleep. Look for snails and slugs, and carry a dish to drop any you find into. We recommend these all be squashed or put in a plastic bag, tied securely, and dropped in your garbage collection.

Once your swan plants grow big, butterflies will find them, and lay eggs. And soon, your plants will be crawling with caterpillars! Patrol the plants each day and destroy any preying mantids you see. Then patrol again at night, and destroy any snails, slugs, and mantids you see.

Eventually, the caterpillars will eat ALL the available leaves, and face FAMINE. A secondary source of food for caterpillars is the Mothplant (Araujia sericifera), or Kapok Vine. Click here to view a photo. This plant is a vine with dull green leaves and large choko-like seed pods, and has white milky sap, similar to the swan plant. Caterpillars love it. The sap can cause itching if it gets on to your skin, so be careful to avoid contact. It grows wild and you may like to gather some seeds and grow your own as backup for swanplant shortage.

Now you're a real butterfly farmer, get a free monarch butterfly e-mail and get on the Electoral Roll under occupation: Butterfly Farmer.