today

I have rented a new work place. It's only been a few days, and it takes a while to settle and get used to working elsewhere. At least I won't be distracted by the garden.

Temperatures have been regularly over 30 degrees celsius during the last month, and my beginning attempt at a garden has suffered a great deal. Mostly sunburn. My thinking leads me to consider that the soil needs work so it can retain more moisture. That and trying to combat white fly and red spider mite through companion planting. Happily, I can report a large number of tomatoes ripening, and vigorous growth from the pumpkins, several healthy beetroot, and a single cucumber. That and about 2 and a half kilos of apricot jam, and some plum jam coming soon.

I have sighted some native bees pollinating my tomato plants, which is the cause of much excitement - they have been identified as blue-banded bees, with the help of a website called Aussie bee where I found information about trials currently being conducted into the use of Native bee species as pollinators for green-house grown tomatoes.



Apparently, green-house tomato growers want to import European bumble bees to Australia to do the job. According to Aussie Bee, the European bumblebee poses a significant threat to Australian ecosystems if it were ever to escape into the wild, and are suggesting the blue-banded Bee as an alternative . The greenhouse tomato growers believe that the bumblebee poses no threat at all. When you think about the damage done by apparently harmless creatures like the rabbit, the cat, the carp, myna birds and the cane toad you wonder whether introducing more 'beneficial' exotic organisms is a good idea. The green-house tomato growers need to be able to compete with cheap imported tomatoes, which begs the question as to whether flying tonnes of tomatoes around the world really is cheaper than growing them locally. Especially when you think about the greenhouse gases that are introduced into atmosphere just so we can enjoy a few flavourless tomatoes in the dead of winter.