Good news everyone!

Welcome back, I hope life has been treating you all well. The weather Is warming up, work is going well and my seedlings are beginning to sprout so I’m a happy man. And Today I also have some fantastic news that I can’t wait to share.

First things first, an update on my little garden. The move to the balcony has down wonders for some of my seedlings, and for the others, I think it may have been too soon as the cold weather seems to have slowed their growth or straight-up killed them. But hopefully, now that it is getting warmer they can recover. Since my last post, I have had the lettuce seeds finally sprout. Just as I was about to give up on them and try something new I noticed that they had begun to poke their heads out of the soil, I am excited that they have finally decided to join the party. I have also sown some green onion in a spare pot I had, but I will be keeping these inside for now as I want to track the progress of a plant kept strictly indoors from seed to harvest for another project I’m working on.  

 As mentioned in a previous post this is my first time growing anything in the northern hemisphere and its interesting planting by the seed packet directions, or by when I think it’s the right time. I mean there is the basic idea of “it’s spring so I plant stuff” but it doesn’t always work like that. Back home I was used to and knew the different microclimates of where I lived as well as the old wives’ tales or sayings that said when certain jobs in the garden should be done. A good example of this is the Hobart show rule. The saying goes that tomato seedlings should not be planted until the weekend of or after the Hobart show, after the show weekend the worst of the frosts has passed and the weather has warmed up sufficiently. So in the week before the show, all the nurseries and hardware stores around town will stock up on tomato seedlings and on the show weekend every man and his dog will be walking out of Bunnings with a few punnets of tomato seedlings tucked under his arm.

If you’re wanting to learn about any old wives’ tales or seasonal tips for your area, I would recommend asking around, try asking friends, family or even the people down at the local community garden and see if they know of any similar rules of thumb that apply to your area. If the people you ask have been gardening for a while in that area they may also have a great understanding of your area’s microclimate. More often than not I find that gardeners if they have become experienced enough in a subject, are more than happy to share that knowledge and help someone who wants to learn. For those who are unaware a town show or agricultural show in Australia is the same as a town or county fair in North America.

If you have nobody to learn from, getting to learn your local microclimate is something that takes time and a lot of experiments, but once you learn it, it is invaluable. I enjoy figuring it out, as you’re required to closely observe the environment around you as it changes seasonally to learn when you can or can’t do things, when the frost is at its worst, when the last snow happens when the weather starts to average double digits, that sort of thing. A great way to keep track of this is to use a journal to record the weather each day and write down any observations or thoughts you may have. That way during the following year you can review the journal and compare the notes to the current weather and use them to guide your planting. I find once you establish that understanding and connection to the land, it allows for a more rewarding experience as you develop your garden or crops. It no longer feels like you’re merely throwing seeds at the ground and hoping for the best, the feeling of luck or chance is removed and you gain a greater appreciation of having something thrive in your garden.

Before I wrap it up today I have some amazing news I would like to share, during the past few months, I have been lucky enough to find and purchase a block of land that I plan to start homesteading on. Shortly I will be swapping out the little balcony gardens and big city noise in Canada, for the rolling hills and gardens as big as I want back home in Tasmania.

I ended up getting roughly 95 acres in the hills behind a small town called Forcett back in Tasmania. It is brilliantly placed as it is roughly an hour’s drive to Hobart the “big city” of Tasmania (it’s called a city when in fact it’s just a large country town). That gives me plenty of opportunities for work while I am getting established. When I eventually get things up and running and decide to set up a stall and sell some produce at a market, I am in a brilliant position as the land is also very close to the Bream Creek farmers market and the Salamanca markets, two of the state’s largest and most successful markets. Currently, there are no buildings on the land, and it is for the most part lightly forested with a creek on the boundary. So I will be starting from scratch. To help with that, I am currently working out when I will return, and I am thinking of moving directly onto the land as soon as I arrive in Australia so I can get it established quicker and start work on a house. It will take a lot of work, and in no way will it be easy, but let’s be honest, nothing in life that’s worth having is easy.  

This is something that I have been working towards for quite a few years now, and I am excited and nervous about what the future brings. It is great, though to see that if you set out the right goals and work towards them, your dreams can become reality. When I started this blog last year, I didn’t think that the goal of buying land would be achieved so soon. It seemed to be one of the bigger hurdles that would take a couple of years to achieve. But with the budgeting strategies I have been using, I have been able to save enough for a deposit, and now I have reached this step of my plan, I can begin the next big goal and challenge of moving onto the land and establishing the homestead. Now to think of a name for the place….

Until next time, have yourself a good one, and I will catch you later.