Bit of a panorama of the poly tunnel. We have assorted aubergines; black beauty, dancer,diamond and tres hative de barbentane. The THB is the most developed with at least two fuzzy flowers amongst the velveteen leaves.
Most of the chillies are flowering. Nigel has a lots of little buds. The California wonder sweet pepper has actually flowered. There are three of these and the plants are actually quite short.
At the back we have the two habanero varieties and then the nagas. All quite leafy; and slowly getting taller.
Apologies for my absence, this week has seen a return to work and the inclement allotment weather continues. As I write this, there is a spittar splatter of rain across the window panes. The plot is most likely under puddle of water. This means that any growing is inside.
Above is an image of the experimental chillies and one of the superhots-serrano. Cayenne and California wonder have been amongst the casualties. Cayenne failed to germinate, and california wonder fell in germinating but not being able to exit its seed case. Dorset Naga and one choc habanero has done the same, and have both been resown, A little frustrating, but the slowness of these two germinating and then not getting any further should have been somewhat telling.
On a second window sill, orange habanero and tobasco are sitting still. I worry about the tobasco, some of its very tiny baby leaves snapped off as it was exiting its seed case. So that one will be somewhat touch and go as to whether it does actually survive. It may be that the leaves are two small to photosynthesise for the seedling.
You will note that the pots are still in foodbag cloches. A retaining security measure; if they get cold with a drop of temperature in any impending cold snap, they may well keel over. I would much rather they didn’t. In the heated prop, we are awaiting fire, scotch bonnet yellow and choco habanero.
The real seeds purple rainbow chilli has been by far the most prolific chilli I have ever grown. These beautiful little creatures have been arriving fairly frequently. One observation, these are very thirsty plants. If they don’t drink, their flowers fall off and they get very stressed. They can easily drink a pint of water a day. A pint. A whole pint glass.
Having collected a handful of purple rainbow chillies, I wanted to do something with them. Whilst a single solitary one, made it into a courgette chutney ( http://www.rivercottage.net/users/Pam%20the%20Jam/blog/1281015134-courgette-aid-and-jam-fest/ ). I wanted to make further use of the rest. The chillies are small, berry like. And quite full of seeds. There are additional chillies in the wendy. I have been impatient, and harvested a few non green Nigels, as well as some green frauzauber, These are a lovely lime colour. I have yet to ascertain, whether this is a sweet or a spicy chilli. it went in regardless.
chilli harvest: frauzaber, a nigel, and unidentified one
There was some nervousness about this recipe. In particular, with the quantities. I didn’t want make too much of it, and how would I know if it had boiled properly to then set. The home grown chillies, were padded out with two large red chillies, and one and a half sweet red peppers. I did panic abit, with the boiling, and the mixture was boiling for 15, rather than 10 minutes. Wobbled beautifully, whilst cooling. There was the flecking floating too, of the chopped up chillies. Definitely in the wobble and the flecking.
The verdict. It tastes lovely! Consistency wasn’t bad. Depending on how much you have, it either wobbles like jelly, or splodges like jam. The flavour is a lot like a sweet chilli sauce, just with a different texture. Goes lovely with the dipping crisps, we know that for a fact. It is also wonderfully more-ish.
horticultural 'obbit 