Eight-by-Six

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.