Eight by Six gardening blog

coffee break

2012-01-26T08:12:00.000-08:00

Hometown fabric shop in Rochester

I took the day off today as my husband's car went into the garage for a minor repair. Nothing major just something he's been meaning to get done for ages. I could have taken him there then home and made my way to work, but the idea of having a day off was too hard to resist. We took ourselves off to Rochester after breakfast; I work nearby all week but I wanted to go to my favourite fabric shop Hometown, Francis Iles shop and stop for coffee and cake in the Cathedral tea room. I didn't spend as much time as I wanted to in the fabric shop or view the sale fabrics, probably a good job because I would have spent too much! I just stuck to my small list of essentials plus one fat quarter. But I did enquire again about quilting and crochet classes which start in the Spring, so I plan to enrole on both.

The gardens at the cathedral tea rooms are lovely in the summer/autumn months (and packed) but too cold and wet to sit out there today. It was sunny when we left the house, rained hard whilst we stopped for coffee, then turned grey again so we headed home to walk the dog. So here are a couple of not very brilliant photos to share my morning with you. I'm now off to my sewing room to get on with my friends birthday present started and some more pin cushions (here's some I made last week, some sold on eBay).

window inside the cathedral tea room Rochester

entrance to cathedral & tea room

pin cushions

free Valentines knitting pattern

2012-01-18T05:30:00.000-08:00

I found this on the Simply Knitting website today and thought I would share it with you, how cute.

A space of my own

2012-01-14T04:15:00.000-08:00

About a week before Christmas Ian finished the new room at the back of the kitchen. It used to be his fish house for his marine tank; the tank showing through the kitchen wall like a huge living picture. Beautiful as it was it was the running costs we too high so in 2010 it was dismantled and sold. The space was left empty for some time before we decided to turn it into a useable room; question was what we could use it for. That’s where I come in! Having taken over the dining room with my craft supplies, spilling onto the floor and generally being disorganised, I suggested we use it for a small sewing room. So here it is a little space of my own (well shared with the new fridge that sounds like a pair of pigeons cooing!)

Here are some of the lovely presents I received; these are from my sister Danielle (also a crafter) she made the heart out of galvenised wire + buttons, hanging in my new room.

metal heart + buttons

my lovely new sewing basket

I’ve also been busy making a crochet roll as a test because a friend’s birthday is approaching (she hinted she would love a knitting needle roll). I’m pretty pleased with it and decided to use it for crochet hooks and circular needles. Just need to press it again and sew the top down to keep the flap in place. I found the pattern at today we made it was fiddly and I’ve never used interfacing before but after reading the instructions about 50 times I got there in the end.

crochet hook roll

wrapped up safe

Have a great weekend. Amanda x

Happy New Year and a leap into 2012

2012-01-01T07:52:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to you all and thank you for stopping by to read my blog entries during 2011. It does make it worthwhile when you all leave little messages and I promise to do the same back this year.

I spent the morning clearing the veg patch and generally tidying up the garden a bit. I did neglect the garden last year as my time was taken up with so many different committees. Thankfully towards the end of 2011 I decided to give all that up and what a difference it’s made; I now have more spare time to do things I want to do! So this morning’s priority was to clear the garden, small it may be but it took about four hours to make it look a bit more respectable. I was far too ashamed to show you the before photo, last year’s tomato plants still stuck in their grow bags! Now it’s looking better although the photo taken in the rain at 3:30pm it looks rather bleak.

The T&M seed catalogue arrived yesterday which gave me a push to get out there. It was great digging in the New Year with thoughts of what could be grown differently this year. The earth is dark and was so easy to dig almost no digging required. So now from the comfort of a warm kitchen I can look forward to another year of growing a small amount of veg (my fifth year). Amanda x

only a couple of days to go

2011-12-22T05:40:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I haven't made a blog entry for over 4 weeks, I've been a touch busy as I'm sure all of you have been too!

I had tons of lavender bag orders to complete, as I finished one the next one arrived. Not that I'm complaining but I must have listed them too cheap in the first place. So no more for a while now to give the machine a rest!

Back into knitting this week to get rid of some stress levels building up in time for Christmas. Another cardi but I only had to buy the pattern as the wool was in my stash in the loft! I like this yarn as its easy to knit with and keeps its shape. There are some colours on sale at Kemps Woolshop if you fancy grabbing a bargain (I have, just don't tell hubby!)

The kitchen is coming on and almost complete, Ian has worked every hour to get the new floor in, painting, woodwork; the list is endless. Some replacement doors arrived yesterday and its all coming together. And I moved into my new craft area at the back of the kitchen a few weeks ago and love it. I do share it with the new larder fridge (that makes pigeon cooing noises from time to time!) But I have shelving, a new desk, chairs and radio, I just love it.

Anyway in case I don't get time to blog again this week ... wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year for 2012 (a leap year)

Amanda x

Kestrel update ....

2011-11-20T10:03:00.000-08:00

Ingrid rung at 6pm to say that Roy has eaten a pinky (small mouse) so he's going to be ok hopefully :-)

Roy the rescued Kestrel

2011-11-20T02:48:00.000-08:00

Roy the Kestrel

Late last week Ian found a Kestrel in the local field whilst walking Moss. It didn't appear injured so he brought it home and looked after it for a few days whilst we rang around to find out what to do next. In the meantime Ian contacted Eagle Hieghts to get some advice. Then this morning we were put in contact with Ingrid at Swale Wildlife Rescue this morning, without people like Ingrid these birds would not survive. Ian named him Roy after his friend at work. Roy is now with Ingrid for the winter in rehab! I'll let you know the progress as in the Spring we can go and see him go back into the wild. Happy ending.

knit a Christmas tree

2011-10-22T04:50:00.000-07:00

If you are anything like me I have bags of wool in my loft and many are oddments left over from other projects. So here is a reminder of the pattern I've posted before, makes a nice gift or just for yourself. If you use wool then these can be felted in the machine and then add buttons etc when dry.

Have a great weekend crafting or gardening. Amanda x

quick scarf, more wool!

2011-10-12T07:04:00.000-07:00

Found some new wool today, I blame all the emails I get advertising the stuff ;-) Anyway thought I would share it with you as it looks lovely and so easy to do. You can buy the wool from Hulu Crafts, Blacksheepwools or eBay. Happy knitting

and the winner is .....

2011-09-25T12:14:00.000-07:00

Thank you for all your comments and for taking part in my Wisley give-away. My husband Ian drew the winning name this evening .... and it is Anne from foreveryoung-annsblog. Congratulations Anne, please send me an email with your postal address and I'll send off your bag of goodies. Amanda x

Blog Giveway

2011-09-18T08:14:00.000-07:00

I'll pick a winner next week or find some novel way to choose a winner! So far six people have entered, come on there must be more of you who would like to have a go.

Beef & Ale casserole in the slow cooker (thanks Jack for your help, he does love cooking) long walk with Ian and the dogs and now to finish some sewing orders. Oh and the sun has been out, a lovely autumn day. We managed to find out kitchen floor tiles this morning, funny how we went back to get something else and they had been reduced, brilliant. Started my mums cardi last week and so far it looks fab, I do love the Sirdar Crofter Chunky wool, makes it look like you've spent ages knitting the colours in! Sure she'll love it. I have unpicked mine as I worked out how to crochet the seems, should only take and hour then I have to block it. Do you block your knitted projects? Why do I need to do it? Any tips? Enjoy the rest of your Sunday. Amanda x

another day, another jam

2011-09-17T03:12:00.000-07:00

What do you do with a glut of tomatoes (over 3kg!) a few apples, 1/2 lemon and a 1kg bag of granulated sugar? Odd combination you may be thinking but it does make a great tomato + apple jam suitable for toasted crumpets, perfect for the autumn or a tea time treat.

If you fancy giving it a try here is the recipe. Its easy and only takes about an hour to make.

Ingredients

500g (1lb 2oz) tomatoes (skinned, deseeded and diced)

500g (1lb 2oz) apples (peeled, cored and diced)

1kg (2lb 4oz) granulated sugar

juice of half a lemon

Put the tomatoes and apples in a large pan with the lemon juice and gently cook on a low heat until the fruit turns into a pulp mixure
Add the sugar and bring gently to the boil stirring often, and boil rapidly for 5 mins stirring lots to prevent burning
Reduce the heat, and simmer very gently for a further 15-20 minutes stirring to prevent burning until setting point is reached. If using a sugar thermometer, the jam is ready when the temperature reaches 105°C/210°f. If you don't have a thermometer, chill a saucer in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Spoon a little of the jam onto the cold saucer.
Push the flat edge of a knife against the edge of the jam blob and if the surface wrinkles it is beginning to set. If it doesn't wrinkle, put the plate back in the fridge and cook the jam for another minute, then test again
Allow to cool for 15 minutes then pour into sterilised jars. filling them almost to the top
Cover the jars at once, using waxed discs and lids if you have them, set aside to cool
If you don't have lids, when the jam is cold, cover the jars with cellophane, and secure with a rubber band
Store in a cool dry place for up to 6 months

taken from cookit.e2bn.org/recipes

Blog Giveaway and RHS Wisley ......

2011-09-11T13:29:00.000-07:00

I had a brilliant day on Thursday, my first visit to the wonderful RHS Wisley the flagship garden to the RHS. I enjoyed the day so much I am planning to return in October for A Taste of Autumn event with my sister. The gardens are just beautiful and so much work goes into their upkeep.

The flower show was set out around the garden in small white tents which made a very relaxing shopping experience, the growers having time to talk to you and offer advice. I bought some allium bulbs ready for planting in Oct/Nov although I was told you can even wait until early next year to plant them. The small show gardens were very well presented and my favourite is shown in the photo above.

I enjoyed the tour given by curator Colin Crosbie and Jim Gardiner, I thought it was well planned and having the extra knowledge from Colin made it even more memorable. Funny how you watch him on Gardeners World then actually get to talk to him.

We were shown around the orchard by Jim Arbury + Gerry and sampled some of the 700 varieties of apples (only eight in case you were wondering including ceval, Katja, Bardsley, Joyce + Lord Lambourne) I popped back for a longer look later in the day and of course to sample another apple! I bought a huge bag in the shop before I left for my family to enjoy when I got home, I've even used some in a tomato chutney this weekend.

Matthew Wilson walked around with our group but I was too shy to ask for a photo etc, well its embarassing asking isn't it? So all in all a brilliant day and well worth a visit, don't know why I left it so long to go there!

To mark the event I have a very small Blog Giveaway, nothing grand just some useful RHS goodies I chose (including a bag for life, wellington keyring + pencils) plus two lovely mini Nutscene Tiddler garden twines, gardening greetings card and lavender bag with my Eight-by-Six logo. All you have to do is leave a comment and I'll take a name out of a hat in a weeks time.

Just relaxing ...

2011-09-07T03:58:00.000-07:00

I'm making the most of my week off with jam making, cooking, pottering in the garden (weather permitting) and just generally chilling out. It was an awful day here yesterday, wind, rain and more rain so I mainly kept in doors apart from walking the dog and getting a bit wet. I picked over 3lbs of home grown tomatoes and made ten jars of chutney. New recipe out of a new M&S bargain book and although the recipe said simmer for 45 mins (over 1 hr later) it was finished! Tastes lovely and the colour is great. This morning I've made mango preserve (chutney?) which will go well with a curry. Tomorrow I have my Wisley Flower Show trip so its a proper day off for me. If you'd like one of the recipes let me know and I'll post it in my next blog update. Amanda x

Wisley countdown, 2 days to go ....

2011-09-05T14:48:00.000-07:00

Received confirmation and press pass today, sooo exited! Shame the weather is going to be a bit wet but I'll enjoy it all the same. Jane Asher is going to open the show and would be good to arrive in time to see her. Planned the route and need to take the dreaded M25, just hope any problems are on the other side of the carriageway! Need to program hubbies satnav tomorrow but the last RHS garden visit I ended up telling it where to go because these clever little gadgets do get confused don't they?!

Tomorrow's weather forecast is pretty bleak with heavy rain, I've picked the wrong week weather wise. Have a few housework chores tomorrow :-( so if its raining it won't be too much of a waste of a day. I also plan to make a batch of mango conserve because I bought a small box of mangos and they must be used tomorrow. Interesting recipe and will make a nice gift if it turns out ok. Enjoy the rest of your week. Amanda x

Wisley flower show here I come!

2011-09-01T07:06:00.000-07:00

The lovely people at RHS have given me a press pass for the Wisley Flower Show next week, a press breakfast no less. I promise to tell you all about it when I get back and maybe just maybe have a blog giveaway, well it must be time for another one.

Enjoy the autumn sunshine today, or summer! I have next week booked off so I just it lasts so that I can enjoy it too.

Amanda x

2011-08-29T01:50:00.000-07:00

I've had a busy few weeks knitting, sewing, crocheting, baking but not much gardening! But I have been making jams + chutneys from my garden veg patch. My spicy courgette chutney has a nice warm kick from my home grown chillies, but only a couple have turned red - maybe it's because we haven't had much sun recently. Tomatoes are ripening and they taste lovely although the plants have toppled over as they are heavy with fruit, next year I must stake them a bit better! Courgettes are still pumping out and the yellow variety is a must for next year as it grows so well. Cucumbers are coming to an end but the little grow house did the trick to get them started and so I'm pleased we have been eating two a week for the past few weeks.

As I have an extra day off for the bank holiday I've been baking in the morning, cheese + chive scones, banana and white chocolate muffins and scotch eggs then making jams or chutneys in the evening. I harvested over 1kg of rhubarb from one crown and haven't touched the new one I planted earlier this year. The rhubarb jam is a lovely deep pink colour and sweet, tastes lovely even without the ginger that I forgot to buy. I managed to pick some hedgerow blackberries last night walking the dog, they aren't very big this year are they? I've popped them in the freezer for next week, probabl only get one jar out of my efforts.

I took my first order on Folksy last week and a couple of orders on eBay and I'm pleased that people like the bags when they receive them. Once our new room is finished I can move all my craft stuff in there which will make it easier, the dining room looks like a craft shop! I have the monthly market next week and plan to sell the jams but wait another month for the chutney to mature, it will be great with cheese or cold meats.

a quick update

2011-08-15T10:53:00.000-07:00

Just popped in for a quick update on the veg garden. Lots of toms are ripening up, tons of courgettes both yellow and green (Black Beauty), cucumbers and chillies growing well in my experimental grow house. The French beans didn't do very well so I've sown a late batch for September pickings and the Swiss Chard Bright Lights wilted a bit but a feed of Miracle Grow should put that right! I'm going to grow tomatoe Madina again next year, I think that's what is was called! Its the funny potatoe leafed variety and I have to say even though its toppled over with the weight of the toms its the best one for less leaves. What's been your best variety this year?

2011-07-17T04:36:00.000-07:00

I've been busy and sadly I haven't had any spare time to update my Blog.

The weather has been a little bit mixed to say the least, so for the last five weeks I've been knitting like mad when I can find a spare 1/2 hour or so to knit something for myself. Almost there now and just need to finish one sleeve, sew it all together and block it; well that the bit takes time and effort to make it all worth while. I'm not sure if I've put the button hole too high so I may have to un-pick one side and do it again before I sew it up. I've used Sirdar Crofter chunky (an eBay bargain). In the meantime I hate not having a project on the go so I started off a jumper too, there's no stopping me once I get started! I had a request from my sister for a tank-top for Christmas but thought I'd make myself one from the same pattern but with cap sleeves, well you have to make sure it looks right don't you?!

In between knitting I've managed to do a tiny bit of gardening when there has been a slot in the weather. I did try this morning but came in when the heavens opened. A now whilst I sit in the kitchen typing its sunny again. Oh well will have to try again later.

Yesterday morning I helped judge our local prettiest front garden competition, the first year we have done this. It was really good fun and I'm sure the three winners will be pleased with their gardening vouchers. I was amazed at the effort some people have put in to create a striking display for passers by, after all we don't get to see our front gardens but instead put a lot of time into creating a display for other people to admire. I've decided that my small space needs an overhall this autumn and have found some ideas taken from magazines to create year round interest with little effort. With a week booked off in Sept and then Oct I'll have fun visiting garden centres in search of more inspiration.

Here are a pictures of the winning gardens, I'm sure we will make this an annual event.

judges looking at gardens

1st place

3rd place

2nd place

one strawberry with cream anyone?

2011-06-23T00:10:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday I drove home in the sunshine, a rare thing in Kent because we have had nothing but grey skies and rain. So I got in and set about pottering in the garden for an hour or so to wind down. My strawberries have been doing really well but this picture shows one huge strawberry (picture taken by my son Jack). I gave them a feed two weeks ago and since then they have been producing all sizes but this one is a whoppa! One question, what do I do with all the runners I now have? Do I snip them off and pot them up?

Saturday evening

2011-06-18T13:32:00.000-07:00

Didn't it rain today?! I thought we had enough during the week then it rained some more today, came down in bucket loads. I'm not complaining because it means I don't have to water the garden. We have eaten lots of strawberries this week, some snow peas, a small bunch of carrots and a few peas. Not much else ready yet apart from Swiss Chard and a few green beans, I still need to plant out some other seedings, I doubt if I'll get it done this weekend.

I took an order for a wedding for 25 lavender bags this week. So I've spent most of this evening making them ready to fill them tomorrow. Here is a picture of them in two stacks, all Cath Kidston, all very pretty. I hope the lady who receives them is happy with them, a nice touch for wedding favours.

I'm off to carry on with my knitting, another project! This one is lovely and I'm going to try to finish this one before I start another one. Famous last words. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Amanda

rain drops ...

2011-06-05T11:15:00.000-07:00

We have had rain here most of the afternoon and now evening. A complete change from Friday when I visited RHS Hyde Hall and managed to get sunburnt walking around all day, but my own fault for not taking up my sister's offer of sun screen! It is a lot better today but one side is still warm, hopefully another application of Sudocreme will help tonight. I'll do another entry next week to update you on my fantastic day and all the lovely people I met, so much to tell you all and so many pictures.

I love the garden when its raining and the colours against the grey paving circle, shame the camera doesn't catch it perfectly. And rain saves me having to water it all evening with watering cans. On Saturday I dug out my rosemary, it was so big and getting woody it just had to go. But all is not lost because I took loads of cuttings to pot up next week when I have more time and bought a low growing one in the plant shop at Hyde Hall called Fota Blue.

Today was the monthly Iwade village market and despite the weather, half term and Rochester Dickens festival not that far away we still had a busy day. So another one over for four weeks, just need to source some more stall holders to fill the hall garden area. It's getting harder to secure people despite all my efforts of emails and telephone calls. But I'm not one to give up and where theres a will....

Black bird update - three eggs! Yes three eggs, brilliant news. When I dug out the rosemary I managed to scape one more trug full out of the compost bin, Mr Blackbird was very pleased with the fresh supply of worms.

I'm off to carry on with some crochet and relax after a busy weekend. Hope you all had a good weekend and managed to get into the garden or allotment. Amanda x

new neighbours are moving in

2011-05-30T11:34:00.000-07:00

I was talking to Ian in the kitchen this afternoon when we both saw a female black bird sitting on the fence. Nothing strange about that but she had some nesting material in her beak, we both looked at each other and smiled, waited for her to go then took a look into our small tree in the garden. She is building a nest! I'm so chuffed and its so near to the house.

This afternoon whilst digging over the veg patch, lugging tons of compost around the male black bird came so close to me to pick up some worms. They have always visited our garden, eaten my strawberries and sat on the fence singing, so its probably no surprise they chose our garden to raise their family. Even so its the first bird family for us and in such a small garden.

I finally got round to taking out the brocolli, the last meal we had with it was only a few days ago and I felt rotten digging it up! Oh well the compost bin has had the benefit. Talking of compost my compost bin must be super speedy. I don't do anything to it apart from give it a good supply of veg peelings, shredded paper and far too many tea bags! But today when I needed compost it gave me four big trugs full which I just about managed to carry. I only emptied it in April, our bin must have very greedy worms!

Sitting having a cuppa I wondered what to do with my cold frames when everything has been planted. So I moved a small cold frame to the freshly dug veg patch and planted my cue plants and some chilli plants inside it. Looks a bit odd but I think it might just work. The top of the cover has little holes now so it shouldn't get too hot. I'm into year four of growing veg so maybe, just maybe I will get a small greenhouse next year! Raining here and very dark so finished just in time.

the ones that didn't get away!

2011-05-28T10:50:00.000-07:00

Ian went fishing yesterday in Sussex and came home with these two fine specimens! So tonight we will be eating baked trout stufed with shallots, lemon + a dash or two of white wine + herbs served with new potatoes and some fresh beans + brocolli from the veg patch. Enjoy your weekend. Amanda x

and today it's my birthday!

2011-05-25T03:48:00.000-07:00

No pictures of me, couldn't find a good enough one to publish! I made lots of cup cakes last night to bring to the office, well big fairy cakes, yes I have to work on my birthday. Ian is taking me out for dinner on Thursday night so I can celebrate my birthday a bit longer. I did get a sloppy kiss from the dog this morning, no one else was around! Anyway here are some photos of my desk with my cards and presents. Amanda x