I am told people used to make fun of the Huon Valley because it was so cold and damp everything went moldy.
Maybe that is true, I don’t know.
What I do know is that it is the driest I have seen it on the farm in our 12 years in Judbury, and the weather bureau is backing up my observation.
According to the bureau’s soil dryness index, Judbury had the driest soil in the state on January 25, 2024.
That’s right – not the dry midlands, not the dry east coast – part of the “cold and damp” Huon Valley was bone dry.
There is no data for neighbouring Glen Huon or Lonnavale, but the available figures show Huonville’s soil is far less dry.
We have had a couple of 40C days during our 12 years here.
But overall the climate has been mild, with a drying trend.
Twelve years ago we had to wear gumboots outside in winter and spring because the paddocks were boggy.
Not any more.
So we aren’t going moldy. Far from it.
What is in store next year?