A novella in 21 chapters
The Plot: Chapter 15
The Wrong Culprit
Jorja
‘Bloody ruined,’ moaned Vince. ‘Again. Looks like I’m just not going to get any this year.’
He stood before his tomato trellis, head bowed over the fruit cupped in his hands.
Jorja didn’t like to see him this despondent.
Neither did she want him spraying broad-spectrum pesticide all over his patch, even if it did say ‘organic’ on the label. As a biochemist, she advocated only controls that were tightly focused; as a permaculturist, she knew a holistic approach was more effective than a blinkered focus on one issue, one solution.
There was also the minor matter that spraying was strictly banned at the Plot.
She could see that the poor man was beside himself and ready for desperate measures.
‘Let’s have a look.’
Gently, she took the big, unripe tomato from his hands and examined it. On one side, there was a gaping hole. Inside, round beetles could be seen, rather like ladybirds but flattish. Chrysomelida family by the look of it: a leaf beetle, but not one she was familiar with.
That wasn’t surprising, as there were thousands of species, exotic and indigenous.
