We’re still talking about rain. With a 70% probability of a La Niña forming this summer we’ll need to work harder at other topics of conversation! The canals and planks of wood in paths around the garden have multiplied. (Alex forbade Christie from talking about the one that didn’t work.) The longer days and stronger sunlight seem to mean the ground is drying faster after each rainfall. A friend also gave Christie some hole-free gumboots, which made her very happy.  And rain can be a good excuse for a work break to visit neighbours’ lambs (they have 12!). So it’s not all bad.

We’ve been reluctant to put seedlings in the ground while conditions are so damp, knowing that they will be attacked by slugs. But it means we’re getting behind on plantings. However, one benefit of this wet weather is the delayed caterpillar season. So we’ve been able to grow lots of radish in the tunnel, where there is less slug pressure but where netting is normally awkward. We thought we would have a few bunches for sale this weekend, mostly because they look pretty on display, but the snap lockdown meant we ate them!

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We (finally) fenced off and planted out our windbreak. Hopefully this version does better than our optimistically sparse attempt last year! The rain did save us the effort of watering all the plants in. The plants are mostly endemic to the Huon Valley so they should grow better in our conditions and also provide shelter for animals, birds and insects. There is one row of tagastaste (tree lucerne) which Christie dithered about as it’s a non-native that grows prolifically but that means it will provide compost inputs and wind protection fast! So we reckon it’s a good implementation of the permaculture principle of stacking functions.

We’ve (Christie) also accepted that the peas-in-the-tunnel experiment failed. The idea was to start peas earlier where they were protected from frost. A good idea but the tunnel was too shady. They produced a few tasty peas but not enough to earn their rent. Pulling them out made a wonderful amount of space to move around in… until our tomatoes (hopefully) take over! We also have zucchini, eggplant, capsicum, pumpkin and a couple of chilli plants growing in pots until the weather is a bit warmer and drier. In the meantime we’re growing a lot of herbs, radish and lettuce in the tunnel. And the strawberry plants which accidentally took over one of the ends! Sadly someone else (not any of the three of us!) took the first ripe strawberry. We’re a lot quicker to pick them now!

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