The colonists arrived at a good time of the year to begin cultivation wherever the ground was cleared of timber, and within the first six weeks most of them had started their gardens. It was too late to sow grain, but they got their potatoes in, and sowed their vegetable seeds. Lavaud started at French Farm a larger garden to supply the needs of his crew. The colonists built their first rough huts, either of rough timber, or of wattle-and-daub. The spiritual needs of the settlement were cared for by the priests of the Catholic Mission, Fathers Comte and Tripe, one ministering to Maori and the other to Europeans.