Our order of bare-rooted fruit and nut trees from a couple of months ago arrived on a sunny Tuesday afternoon in an unseasonably mild week. This was especially lucky because we know very little about trees so debates about their location inevitably slowed us down. Questions like “where will the roots go?” (hopefully not in the garden bed) and “how do we trade off wind protection and sunshine if we don’t have a perfect location?” seemed unanswerable even with the internet. And the nursery we bought them didn’t have clear answers either. The semi-permanence of trees added weight and delays to decisions. But eventually the apricots, peach, hazelnuts and Tasmanian pepperberries were all in the ground (plums and another peach are still to follow). And the berry patch is underway, although the strawberries are still too small to plant out and Alex remains unreceptive to my suggestion of a sculpture among the berries. We learned a little about trees along the way but I’m glad we’re planning to sell vegetables and not fruit!

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Aside from bare-rooted fruit tree sales, local gardeners are talking tomatoes. So far our first set of tomatoes growing on the heat mat and underneath bubble wrap are looking pretty good. So good that Alex has ordered two slightly larger heat mats and we’re dreaming about offering customers eggplants, chillies, capsicum and cucumbers. (The Tasmanian summer may limit some of this but it is possible.) This week we also seem to have had a mini-victory in our ongoing, one-sided battle with our small visitor. Over the course of the last fortnight one full bed of seeds became a grid of holes. New seedlings in another bed were attacked most nights. It seems (albeit only after two nights so far) that maybe, just maybe, a row cover is enough to protect the seedlings. We will keep planting them for now and hopefully we’ll have broad beans to sell.

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After hearing last week that the worst of winter was behind us and then enjoying a week of sunshine, weather forecasters and locals alike are predicting rain and possibly snow this week! The rain is welcome after an especially dry July; I’m less sure what snow really means and how the plants will fare. So we have some more learning ahead. And hiding inside. Fortunately we still have plenty of indoor jobs – including finding a name for our tiny farm. Perhaps this is the week when inspirations strikes. But at the very least we will wrap up the shed plans so that can be built before the season gets busy and the ever-growing spreadsheet will be capped.