Some fresh walnuts and hazelnuts, not the kind you get opened and packaged at the supermarkets. Was at Ilia’s place in the suburbs (Vyanne’s friend), and his dad knew the farmer who supplied the nuts, so they got them really fresh.

The picture was lit in fluorescent light, which isn’t a very appealing light. There is only so much you can do to the white balance settings. I want to try to more purposefully to light objects and dim the surrounding area. A flash with a warming gel on it focused to a beam while everything else falling in shadow might help. Will give this idea a try over the next few days.

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Alas, my herb garden is partially dying. The flat leaf parsley and the coriander are already infested by miniature bugs and have more than wilted. I don’t know if this is common or if it was due to my coffee grounds compost. Not sure if the strange Melbourne weather contributed (rain, rain and more rain). Keeping plants out in the open isn’t easy. I am supposed to get a spray bottle and fill it up with crushed garlic juice. It’s supposed to be a natural form of pesticide. I still have some plants worth saving, so I will give it a go.

I have learned some things from this, in that plants need lots of space to grow. The small Styrofoam boxes restricted space and I noted that the plants that had their own lot grew much better. After the demise of some of the plants, reading on the Internet revealed that some plants repel insects. Sage and mint have strong odours, repelling insects (they seem fine at the moment).

What I’d like is a bed of soil to just chuck things in and watch them grow. Spring is here, might just overturn the dead stuff and try it again.