Cotton has made a successful return to the Lockyer Valley, with local vegetable farmers incorporating it into their rotations for its salt-tolerance and favourable marketing opportunities. The primary hub for these striking “sea of white” blooms is in the Forest Hill area near Gatton. Purple bales of cotton dotting a 500-hectare paddock isn’t the first thing you’d expect to see in an area usually devoted to vegetable growing.

What a great view from the bus as I was driving around the area – from a sea of white fields to rolls of purple bales.