How much time?

How much time should  a grown woman spend hunting for caterpillars? I'm sure I've had my quota and am about to abandon green principles and blast the little rotters with something chemical.

I've been waging war for months after finding that the leaves on my citrus trees had been cunningly folded to hide small, green, inoffensive-looking caterpillars. But what damage they've done! I love my citrus trees. My father bought the first one, a 'Meyer' lemon bush, which has produced small, sweet, thin-skinned fruit for many years. The other trees have come as hand luggage from holidays in Majorca and Corfu, causing merriment at airline check ins. Now they have been put outside for the summer and I'm happy to see that the bluetits have taken over my role and are busy in the branches searching for food.

Parsley is seeding beside the asparagus bed. The two plants look lovely together, making a delicate tracery of green.

But what do I see?

CATERPILLARS! 

Ugly, grey caterpillars hard at work stripping the asparagus leaves. They obviously taste bad because the birds make no attempt to eat them.

Bug spray, here I come!