vegetables and the bees that love them

I attended the 2010 Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Growers Convention this week. So much information! There were educational lectures all day long as well as a trade show which was useful for learning about new products (and I also bought a very nice harvest knife and sharpener for about half what it sells for in catalogs). I'll tell you, since starting on this path of market gardening, there has been almost an information overload. So much to learn and know in so little time. And of course for once in my life I'm not starting out slowly, but instead am jumping in whole hog - so to speak. Of course, this is like heaven to me - I love to read, learn, and keep my mind busy. And busy it has been. For instance: just last week, I learned that a lot of folks use bumble bees in their green/hoop houses for pollination of tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and squash. Exactly the summer vegetables I'll be growing in mine. Apparently it's better than hand pollination in increasing the number and size of the vegetables. But, I thought, how could a semi-recovering bee-phobe like me intentionally bring bumbles into my greenhouse? No Way, nope, not going to happen. Then yesterday at the convention trade show, was an exhibitor with a display of the little monsters... in a clear plexiglass box to better see them in all their gruesome glory. ick. ugh. eeeeeew. But as a recovering anything, sometimes you have to face your fears. And so I spent some time talking with the very nice bee woman and learning about her "product". Sigh. There could well be bumbles in this farm's future. We'll see.