Adventures with Chillis 2015 - Part 1
I’d tried to grow chilli peppers for a few years with
varying degrees of success/commitment.
Generally I just plumped for the first packet I came across, or even
just tried the seeds from a supermarket-bought jalapeno. Generally, however, I gave up long before
they came to fruit.
All that changed last year, however. It was my first year living in Knaresborough
and I decided to launch myself into the garden, planting up numerous tubs and
border plants over several weekends with my other half. Fairly
late on into the process I decided to have another crack at chillies and bought
a couple of packs from the garden centre, one pack of cayennes and a pack that
I forget the name of.
Over the course of the spring it became apparent that
ANYTHING will grow in our garden! I
started the chilli seeds off on our windowsill and nearly all of them
germinated, so I selected the healthiest to pot on and the rest I stuck in tubs
outside, “just on the off chance”. At
first the outdoor plants seemed to die off.
Those indoors did better but soon got overrun with mites, nevertheless I
manages to save a couple which went on to produce flowers and fruits. Then the ones outside had a renaissance! The leaves came back, thick and dark green
and, almost overnight, long green cayennes and round, juicy “bonnets” started
to appear. In addition I went to the
Wetherby food festival and came back with a “Nosferatu” plant, a Jalapeno
chilli which grew on an amazing black plant with tiny purple flowers. By the end of the year I had a fairly decent
harvest, some of which I dried and the rest of which I made into a beautiful,
sweet hot sauce, saving some of the Nosferatu seeds.
Buoyed by this success I instantly set about making plans for
this years project, researching chillies and sourcing seeds. We have the slight complication of having an
extension built this year however I still want to have a crack at growing a
couple of varieties. After much research
I decided on:
1.
A super-hot, specifically the bhut jolokia! The second hottest chilli in the world I have no idea why I want to grow this as I
have no intention of eating the thing, but I like the idea of growing something
so infamous! Plus I found a rare white
variety and imported the seeds from Germany.
2.
Something a bit sweeter: the Cherry Bomb. Apparently these are good in Italian cooking,
I love tomato sauces with a bit of chilli through them. They’re also meant to be nice stuffed with
cream cheese.
3.
A milder variety: the Hungarian Hotwax. A general all-rounder, big fruits mild enough
to eat off the plant.
4.
My Nosferatu seeds. This was such a beautiful plant I wanted to
grow it again
There was, however, a little confusion sourcing my orders.
The Bhut and Cherry Bomb seeds arrived without a hitch. The Hotwaxes, however, didn’t turn up. Instead I received Serranos, which hadn’t
even entered my consideration. I’m not
normally one to complain, and for 99p (which is how much the seeds cost) I
wouldn’t have bothered but for some reason I decided to drop the suppliers (not
realising they were in China!) an email.
I received an extremely apologetic reply and an assurance that they
would replace them with the correct order.
2 weeks later I received the Hotwax seeds plus a packet of unidentifiable,
Chinese seeds (the pack is almost entirely written in Chinese) meaning I now
have Bhut Jolokias, Cherry Bombs, Serranos, Nosferatus, Hungarian Hotwax and Chinese
mystery seeds. Naturally I’m going to
try to grow all of them.
I started with the Bhuts as, apparently, they are a
nightmare to grow and take ages to germinate. I’d read somewhere that soaking them in camomile tea can help with
germination so, by way of an experiment, I soaked 4 seeds in tea. I then planted up two batched of 4 propogation
trays, in each I put two tea-soaked seeds and two right out of the packet. I then put one lot of propogation trays in
the airing cupboard and one lot on the windowsill.
For 3 weeks I tended my seeds. Constantly checking the soil moisture and
spraying them when needed. 3 weeks. Nothing.
4 weeks… nothing.
Out of a sheer bloody-minded refusal to give up, or maybe
out of habit, I kept on tending the seeds until finally, last night, 6 weeks after
I started, the first shoot finally poked though! It was a tea-soaked entry from the airing
cupboard so I’m inclined to follow this strategy for the rest. We’ll see how we get on, ideally I’d like a
couple to choose from however, for the time being, I have growing in my kitchen
the second hottest chilli in the world.
Time to get on with the rest.
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P.S. I nicked the following from the Daily Torygraph, seems to be quite foolproof:
Dan May is the owner of what may well be the world's most northerly chilli farm, in Haltwhistle, Northumberland, and founder of Trees Can't Dance, a company producing a range of natural chilli sauces, marinades and pickles. Here are his hot tips for growing chillies from seed:
6 When plants reach 30cm, pinch out growing tips just above the fifth set of leaves to encourage bushiness. Pot on if necessary; check daily for aphids.
7 When flowers appear, help out the bees with some hand pollination - gently dab a cotton bud into each flower.
8 Snip off first chillies while green to encourage fruiting all season (July to October). You can let the next fruit mature to red for a more rounded flavour.
Top tips
Chillies can be planted any time up to May, but starting early means they have more chance to ripen in time for summer.
Plant in January and you should harvest in July. Even in the south-east, it's too cold to start chillies off outside.
By mid-May it should be warm enough to put the plants outside, in a sheltered, sunny spot.
The hottest and more unusual varieties, such as the habanero, take longer to ripen.
If you're growing tropical varieties, or if you are in northern Britain, keep plants in a greenhouse or on a warm sill.
If you can get a plant through the winter, the fruit yield will increase in the second and third years. At the end of the growing season choose a healthy plant and cut it back to leave the stem and a few healthy branches.
Make sure the plant is free from pests and that the compost is relatively fresh. Place plant on a warm windowsill and give an occasional liquid feed.
An overwintered plant will produce fruit earlier and more prolifically. After four or five years, yields begin to fall and it is time to retire that plant.
Easy varieties to try
Ring of Fire' is a very hot cayenne variety. Use green in the recipe below or red for a slightly sweeter, hotter taste - perfect for arrabiata sauce. Good in a pot, needs little attention.
'Cherry Bomb' is juicy, fruity and medium hot. An early cropper, best picked red, perfect for pizza, pasta or spicy salad.
'Hungarian Hot Wax' This early mild/medium all rounder produces large fruit all season. Ideal in salads, or for pickling.
Seed suppliers Try Nicky's Nursery (01843 600972)
Recipe: baked chilli eggs
This fantastically warming and comforting dish is ideal for breakfast or as a supper treat.
1 tbsp butter
1 clove garlic (minced)
125g smoked ham
225g diced mushrooms
2-3 hot green chillies, chopped
225ml sour cream
2 tsp dried parsley
½ tsp dried oregano
Salt and pepper
6 large eggs
¾ cup mature cheddar cheese
Pre-heat the oven to 190C/gas mark 5.
Melt butter in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat and fry the garlic and ham for about two minutes, stirring regularly.
Add the mushrooms and green chillies, and continue cooking until the mushrooms start to brown and chillies begin to soften. Remove from heat and stir in the sour cream, parsley and oregano. Season with salt and pepper.
Turn the mixture into a small ovenproof casserole and allow to stand for about 10 minutes to blend flavours.
Make six hollows in the mixture and break an egg into each. Season the eggs with salt and pepper. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the egg whites are set then remove from the oven and sprinkle with grated cheese.
Return to the oven and cook until cheese is bubbling. Serve with toast or crusty French bread and a dash of hot sauce. Dan recommends African Hot Sauce or Pennine Fire Sauce, from Trees Can't Dance.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
P.S. I nicked the following from the Daily Torygraph, seems to be quite foolproof:
Dan May is the owner of what may well be the world's most northerly chilli farm, in Haltwhistle, Northumberland, and founder of Trees Can't Dance, a company producing a range of natural chilli sauces, marinades and pickles. Here are his hot tips for growing chillies from seed:
1 Fill a multi-cell seed tray with multipurpose compost, firm down and
moisten with water. Place a seed in each cell, lightly cover with compost
(or a thin layer of vermiculite).
2 Water gently, using a very fine rose, then cover with cling film and
place somewhere warm, such as an airing cupboard. Make sure the compost is
moist but not sodden.
3 At the first sign of growth (two to four weeks), move to a warm place
out of direct sun, but with plenty of light, such as a windowsill above a
radiator. Water from below to encourage strong roots - capillary matting is
ideal. Check daily that the surface is just moist.
4 When your seedlings sprout a second set of leaves, carefully
transplant to 7cm pots of moist compost and feed weekly with a liquid tomato
feed.
5 Once plants reach 12-15cm, transplant to 12cm pots (or fit three in a
30cm pot), filling with compost to about 1cm from the top. When plants are
about 20cm, support by gently tying to a cane.
6 When plants reach 30cm, pinch out growing tips just above the fifth set of leaves to encourage bushiness. Pot on if necessary; check daily for aphids.
7 When flowers appear, help out the bees with some hand pollination - gently dab a cotton bud into each flower.
8 Snip off first chillies while green to encourage fruiting all season (July to October). You can let the next fruit mature to red for a more rounded flavour.
Top tips
Chillies can be planted any time up to May, but starting early means they have more chance to ripen in time for summer.
Plant in January and you should harvest in July. Even in the south-east, it's too cold to start chillies off outside.
By mid-May it should be warm enough to put the plants outside, in a sheltered, sunny spot.
The hottest and more unusual varieties, such as the habanero, take longer to ripen.
If you're growing tropical varieties, or if you are in northern Britain, keep plants in a greenhouse or on a warm sill.
If you can get a plant through the winter, the fruit yield will increase in the second and third years. At the end of the growing season choose a healthy plant and cut it back to leave the stem and a few healthy branches.
Make sure the plant is free from pests and that the compost is relatively fresh. Place plant on a warm windowsill and give an occasional liquid feed.
An overwintered plant will produce fruit earlier and more prolifically. After four or five years, yields begin to fall and it is time to retire that plant.
Easy varieties to try
Ring of Fire' is a very hot cayenne variety. Use green in the recipe below or red for a slightly sweeter, hotter taste - perfect for arrabiata sauce. Good in a pot, needs little attention.
'Cherry Bomb' is juicy, fruity and medium hot. An early cropper, best picked red, perfect for pizza, pasta or spicy salad.
'Hungarian Hot Wax' This early mild/medium all rounder produces large fruit all season. Ideal in salads, or for pickling.
Seed suppliers Try Nicky's Nursery (01843 600972)
Recipe: baked chilli eggs
This fantastically warming and comforting dish is ideal for breakfast or as a supper treat.
1 tbsp butter
1 clove garlic (minced)
125g smoked ham
225g diced mushrooms
2-3 hot green chillies, chopped
225ml sour cream
2 tsp dried parsley
½ tsp dried oregano
Salt and pepper
6 large eggs
¾ cup mature cheddar cheese
Pre-heat the oven to 190C/gas mark 5.
Melt butter in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat and fry the garlic and ham for about two minutes, stirring regularly.
Add the mushrooms and green chillies, and continue cooking until the mushrooms start to brown and chillies begin to soften. Remove from heat and stir in the sour cream, parsley and oregano. Season with salt and pepper.
Turn the mixture into a small ovenproof casserole and allow to stand for about 10 minutes to blend flavours.
Make six hollows in the mixture and break an egg into each. Season the eggs with salt and pepper. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the egg whites are set then remove from the oven and sprinkle with grated cheese.
Return to the oven and cook until cheese is bubbling. Serve with toast or crusty French bread and a dash of hot sauce. Dan recommends African Hot Sauce or Pennine Fire Sauce, from Trees Can't Dance.
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