| goldhills - AS one of the most southern ( Vic is south but they can answer for themselves) we grow most of the year, about 2 months in winter (depending which microclimate we have) when nothing really grows, but apart from obviously tropical stuff like fruit, we can grow most produce. You have to get a perspective on what you call cold. Only on top of the mountains where nobody lives does it get snow and so cold it's brass monkey land. That's like the Vic ski fields, nobody would be growing anything there anyway and that's not all there is to the state.
Tasmania is populated mainly along its coastal belt and the climate varies in pockets with their own microclimates but is classified 'temperate/cool'. Apart from a few severe frosts, about 6 in total in the winter, with plenty of warning because they occur when the wind is in a certain direction, maybe if we are lucky Hobart gets snow on the mountain 3 or 5 times in winter, the rest of the time is totally encouraging to grow most produce. In my reply to Spatz, I list what I have planted for autumn - should give you an idea. Summer has been bountiful with all the fresh things you like and I grow lettuce and other salads all year round including winter! What I have planted now will see us through winter and none of it will spoil because of cold weather because I've planted cold tolerant things. We still have stored potatoes, onions and apples - enough to see us until we crop the next lot. In summer I will be continuing with produce that would die of heatstroke up north, so please don't assume just because Tassie is south it is cold. Today was 25 degrees, the other day 28 . July and August are generally out for planting not because stuff won't grow ( I plant my spuds and onions then) but because the days are short and so we have to select what to plant and I like my bed and it gets dark early. Daylight length has much to do with what can and can't grow and also location. In summer we get daylight from about 5.30 am until 10 pm so obviously there is a period of great bounty that sees us all maximising on the summer. Even now it is still light at 8pm but by winter it will get dark at 5. This is something to which we adapt. There is a speed up in October and November when the soil warms up and daylight starts to lengthen due to the tilt of the earth pointing us at the Sun in its southern latitudes. We anticipate the December January flush of tomatoes and so on while eating lovely cool weather crops . but we do still grow and crop a big variety, more or less the same as we plant for autumn, that way we get two hits at it. We are completely self sufficient in our garden - actually, I did buy some celery from the veggie shed only because mine was not a good crop. South North is not the only criteria for weather. At our latitude (42 south) we are on the equivalent northern latitude for Portugal. Elevation also has a part to play. Your friend should research where she/he/they plans to move and talk to the people who live there because there is a lot of misunderstanding about southern climes. They should visit for a few weeks because contrary to myth you can't drive round the island in 4 days. We've lived here 32 years and still haven't been to some places! I can imagine gardening in the north with cane toads and snakes nibbling at my toes as the produce rots and gives me athletes foot and other fungal things, due to too much humidity, flies and heat and shortage of water. ggg ( Get the drift?) | 
