Getting the plot ready for the new year.

Cut some cavolo nero, black tuscan cabbage. Sowed broad beans, a mix of aquadulce and bunyards exhibition; two rows under a netting cloche and two in the open air. The BE variety isn't recommended for January sowing but worth a try. The overwintering onions and garlic are mostly showing through. There are a few leeks left, but they are about the size of modest spring onions.

The wind has stripped the roofing felt from the shed but otherwise no damage yet from the weather.

My order of seeds has arrived from the Real Seed Company, always a sign of spring on the way.

Jupiter

One of the advantages of the micro four thirds cameras is the lack of a mirror box, this allows a shallow body from sensor to lens throat. As a result, adaptors can be made to mount, and give infinity focus on, a wide range of lenses of all ages and types.

Today I tried a Russian Jupiter 135mm f4, 39mm thread screw mount lens on my EPL1. This was probably made in the early to mid 1960s for the Fed and Zorki rangefinder cameras. The angle of view is equivalent to about 270mm on a full frame.

The problem was holding it steady at slow shutter speeds, but the in-body anti-shake mechanism helped at down to about an eighth of a second. The results were quite good, although the contrast was a little low. It was good to be able to open up the aperture enough to get a shallow depth of field.

The pictures are from Oliver's Castle and Roundway Down, near Devizes. This was the site of the victory of the Royalists over the Parliamentarians on the 13th July 1643.

Bee

Cucumber & Leeks

One cucumber plant is still growing; this is the size of a large supermarket sausage so I think I'll give it a bit longer.

Leeks transplanted to their growing position.

Overgrown

The plot has been increasingly neglected over the last two years, and is now producing little but weeds. This picture shows cavolo nero, struggling to get some light and air. Hopefully I'll now have a little more time to get the plot sorted over the winter and back on track for 2012.

Max

Max hangs around the allotments, and likes mice and voles.

Fruit & seedlings

Picked about 4lbs of strawberries. The raspberries are developing but only a few are starting to ripen; the redcurrants and gooseberries are close as well.



Sowed, weeded and watered. Forgot to get some more (organic) slug pellets; these need to be down before the next rain.

The first lettuce are nearly ready to have leaves picked; a mix of oak leaf and crinkly, red and green.

Many of the seeds are now coming through, although all are a bit late; runner beans, peas, mange tout, carrot, rocket, basil and radish.