It was a bit of a chilly start this morning and according to the weatherman it’s set for the rest of the week. Not good news for our onions seeds which are still showing no signs whatsoever of sprouting – they need to get a move on. However, the chillis are romping away, so much so that they are in grave danger of going leggy very early on.
Chillis are up!
We’ve planted two types this year: Cayenne and Numex Twilight. The Numex are a new variety on us – I was attracted to their colour. We did the Cayenne last year along with Ring of Fire and Apache – all were good and ended up producing a bumper harvest. Not good news for the recipients of our Christmas presents who all ended up with a variety of things made from chillis whether they liked chilli or not – chilli oil, chilli flakes, chilli jam, chilli jelly, chilli chocolate bark, chilli and lime chocolates, chilli vodka…the list went on. The rest were tied into ristras and left to dry so that they can be used throughout the year.
Chilli Ristras from the 2011 harvest
The chilli jam was a huge success and is the perfect thing with baked camembert and a chunk of bread – just what you need to warm you up on these chilly days. Have a look on the recipe pages (on the right) for the Chilli Jam and Chilli Jelly – well worth a go.
Chilli Jam & Chilli Jelly
Another thing that’s also worth a go, and is also along the chilli theme, are these:
Chilli feet
These are excellent if you’re the sort of people, like us, who are forever wandering off down the garden in your slippers and then paddling mud back through the kitchen (or worse still, leaving big clods of mud right through the house – yes, you have been caught in those wellies!). They’re called Backdoorshoes – simples. You stick them by the back door and slip them on every time you go outside. They’re brilliant, and come in all patterns – garlic, nuts and bolts, roses…to name but a few. I think they’ll made excellent allotment shoes come the summer.
Not convinced…have a look at this other pair.
Sprouting vegetable feet
Allotted Earth 