The south-west of Tasmania has some of the highest rainfall in Australia, which also makes it an attractive place to live and farm sustainably as the climate changes. According to the Bureau of Meteorology – maybe our favourite government agency – since 1991 January’s average rainfall is 56.6mm. But even here we have had little rain the past month. Because the garden beds are new there is not a lot of organic matter to retain moisture. We don’t yet have water storage of our own and so we have been guiltily watering seedlings. We are certainly lucky to be in one of three municipalities in Tassie without water restrictions. But on Wednesday night and Thursday we had almost 28mm of rain. The beds are drenched and it finally seems to have soaked in. It might be our imaginations but the plants look a lot happier after real rain.
Another benefit of rain was that it provided an excuse to take a break from the physical jobs like carting wheelbarrows of compost around (Alex) and transplanting seedlings (me). This meant I could start a side project: mushroom logs. They won’t generate revenue but will save us money and make meals more interesting. Reflecting my lack of experience, it was much harder work than expected! I hadn’t used an electric drill before and it turns out hardwood is really hard! And it’s hard work holding bent logs in position! Aside from that, the process is simple: drill holes, insert dowels inoculated with shitake (purchased on the internet), cover holes with beeswax, and stack logs. Then wait. It takes at least nine months! I suspect it’s not the best gardening project for kids…
Following the success of the fencing festival (i.e. it is still standing and keeping wallabies out) we embarked on a new multi-day project. This time to build a caterpillar tunnel so we can grow things that prefer warmer temperatures and move our seedlings out of the laundry. The first part was easy: visit Longley Organic Farm to see the finished product. On Thursday the arrival of rods and steel for the frame meant that all excuses for delaying actual work had evaporated. Apparently it’s possible to assemble these in four hours. A combination of our lack of knowledge and submerged rocks meant that after 6.5 hours we had 22 pieces of rebar anchored into the ground and 11 arches for the frame assembled. These jobs are like a tug-of-war: Alex wanting to plough ahead and get it done and me wanting to triple-check the instructions. I’m glad I opted for a blog rather than time-lapse videos of us starting up! Next step is carting wheelbarrows of compost around again to make the beds to plant into. The festival continues to next week….
A smaller – and faster – piece of infrastructure was making insect row covers to protect our brassicas from moths and caterpillars. The many embarrassing phone calls to rural supplies shops all over Tasmania asking for 4mm fencing wire but using all the wrong vocabulary have truly paid off – the leftover wire was perfect for making the frames. Continuing that spirit – of mechanical, rather than chemical, pest eradication – we also spent an afternoon walking around our paddocks with an axe, secateurs, tongs and bags, removing the thistle heads before they blew everywhere and hopefully preventing those plants from growing back. They look so pretty but hurt so much. I’m sure there’s an analogy to their motherland somewhere there…
Ebbi “helping” 
Row covers up 
Pretty Scottish thistles
We are still only harvesting radish and salad leaves from the garden. So this week we explored two new ways of eating radish, including the green tops. The tops are apparently full of goodness but are also prickly and pretty unappetising. Alex says that my fermented leaves taste like sea water. But I got a pass mark for radish sautéed with garlic and tarragon and served with a poached egg. That’s progress, I suppose.
