Episode 8 - Mitey Trouble

Hello. It's Billie Bean here. I think it's time to make sure Chelsea likes her new home. She had to check out a few paddocks before she found one she and her rhizobia could feel happy in.

"How's it going, Chelsea?" I asked.

"Oh Billie, it's so nice to have you visit!" replied Chelsea. "The soil here is lovely, and all that wonderful rain at the break of the season got me germinating really well. That long dry spell over summer was getting very tiresome. Feeling that water all around me just makes me swell up with pride and excitement! You know how good your tap root feels after being curled up inside for so long. It's growing down, down, down! And already there are other roots starting to grow out from it, searching for nutrients to feed me."

"I'm sure we'll make lots of lovely, gold, plump, protein-filled seed this year, and add some nitrogen to the soil. I just know I'm going to make the Jones and the cereals very happy."

It's great to see Chelsea so settled. You know how much the rest of us would like her to be a permanent member of our farm family. Feeling contented with her progress, I was about to leave Chelsea to get on with her growing when I noticed a flash of tension sweep across her features.

"Chelsea, what's wrong? I asked.
She hesitated, not wanting to worry me.
"Please Chelsea," I said, "tell me what's the matter. I can't help if I don't know."
"Put your ear to the ground, Billie," she whispered. "Can you hear anything?"

I put my ear to the ground. At first, I couldn't hear anything. But then what I heard sent a shiver of fear down the back seam of my pod. Chelsea was in danger!

The chilling sound of thousands of little legs running across the soil in the distance filled the air. It must be Rodger Red-Leg and his Red Legged Earthmite Army. They love to suck out the juices of young seedlings and leave them weak and useless. Can Chelsea resist their onslaught?

Listen, she and her chickpeas are singing something... Is it a song of fear? Hey, it sounds like a victory song! Have a listen.

Whew! Chelsea and her friends can resist the red-legged earthmite army. Those soft furry green leaves of theirs are their secret weapons.

"You see," explained Chelsea when we'd all calmed down, "a girl needs to have her defenses. When those nasty redlegs try to take a bite out of me, they get a big mouthful of acids - oxalic, malic and citric acids to be exact.It's enough to make them run away in disgust."

I'm so relieved that Chelsea's safe for now, but are there other threats she will have to face? Now that's another story...