I've finished digging out my fortress proper. It's my standard 31x31 multi-layer fort, which is very easy to follow and ridiculously efficient. I have two dwarves doing sparring drills. Not sure what they're practicing, since they haven't picked up the training axes (not sure why, not large enough to need an outfitter), but it's nice. I need to make some more armor, but steel is a pain to make without magma.
Speaking of magma, haven't pierced the caves yet. I'm planning on doing some exploratory mining and shafts, but I want to have a few trained soldiers before I start exploring, on the off chance I run into the 'Unnamed bat man civilization' down there. A few traps and a few axedwarves should keep me safe.
I finally figured out why my farmer wasn't planting: I turned off his farming labor. Earlier on I ran out of booze and the surface lakes had evaporated, so I had to rush to brew some longland beer. I finally have some pig tails and plump helmets growing, which is very good. I was within spitting distance of starvation, I was down to butchering puppies and milking everything in sight. The traders finally arrived an I bought two cows (one turned out to be a bull, which is actually better) and a female donkey to increase my milking stock. I still don't know why Toady hasn't made goats available upon embark and milkable, I may have to mod that in.
Long term, I need to secure my fort, expand my military, find magma, and secure water underground. All the surface water evaporates, but it rains a little so I might be able to collect the rain quickly in buckets and fill some small pits underground for washing. Hopefully I can secure some underground water for a more permanent solution.
Edit: I've also run into a weird thing where vermin corpses in my refuse pile isn't rotting away. Is this a new bug?