This week I learned how to register a business name. And bought a domain name. So Old Orchard Farm the business now exists, along with www.oldorchardfarm.com.au and veggies@oldorchardfarm.com.au. After the decisions were made, the actual process was surprisingly fun (and quick!). The name comes from the fact that like much of the Huon Valley, the property was an apple orchard not so long ago. And we liked how it sounded. A logo, webpage and social media pages still lie ahead. We’ve outsourced the logo to a professional but I’ll tackle the others in the next week or so. I might finally learn how to properly use hashtags.

We hope to add more fruit trees back over time (and nut trees too) but we know next to nothing about trees so we’re doing this cautiously! By the end of the week, after the rain had drained away a little, we had planted the last of our recent bare-root tree purchases – two plum trees and the second peach tree – and crossed our fingers. We also said good-bye to the last leaf on our Hass Avocado tree, which has not enjoyed Tasmania’s frosts. That leaves us with one avocado tree and a sense of disappointment. We still have two lemon trees and a lime growing in pots in the tunnel – at some point we need to introduce them to the real world but I don’t feel confident. On the other hand, the blueberries are looking good and the cherry tree also has buds on it now.

Seed trays have continued multiplying in the laundry, shed and tunnel. According to my spreadsheet we should have transplanted some seedlings outside this week. Unsurprisingly I’m not very good at predicting plant growth in winter but I can make a decent spreadsheet so my checking column says “missed” in large red capital letters beside the lettuce, radish, spinach, beetroot, broad beans and peas. We’ve started chitting the potatoes indoors, a process that involves sitting seed potatoes in egg cartons and waiting. And we finally received our truckload of tree mulch (maybe the arborists don’t work much in winter?) so Alex finished his circular beds around the peach tree and built another pumpkin patch. I advised on angles and roundness. The cows also made a solid contribution to the height of these beds, and hopefully better pumpkins!