October and November is chilli mania within our household.
But this little chilli heaven starts its journey in the cold month of January, when the seeds are sown at home within our living room.
It’s a bit of a tradition, that the Christmas decorations go up into the loft and the collapsible shelve appears in it’s place.
A make shift home for the chilli’s until the weather becomes warmer and they migrate to their final home the polytunnel.
Growing seedlings is one of my most favourite things, but chilli’s are a little different due to there temperamental nature.
Like many, we have made errors along the way.
On our first year of growing chilli’s we started the seeds in March and couldn’t understand why the fruit was not maturing fast enough.
The end result was a handful of ripe fruit and ten ton of wet, frozen, unusable produce.
Heart breaking, but gave me a kick up the arse I needed to succeed.
I have found in recent years, with the bizarre weather changes that adaptability from the gardener is needed a little more.
I like to use the strategy ‘survey, question, research, adapt or hold tight’.
This open mindedness to change can sometimes be the luck you need.
These little seeds are definitely partial to a hot climate and direct sun light no matter the time of the year.
All factors that have to be artificially created to trick the seeds into believing they are within warmer climates.
So over the years we have had to work hard at creating the right environment, there has been a lot of trail and error.
We have found a magical combination that works for us, in the form of heat mats and UV lights.
By offering these creature comforts has allowed the seeds to turn successful into seedlings and then food producing machines.
And surprisingly, once the environment is right, all they need from the humans involved is care, dedication, a generous sprinkle of love and a big helping of chance.
After 300+ days of dedication, its time to make a plan.
It’s no good picking, if you haven’t got time or the equipment/ingredients to process them.
Once everything is in place, its time to get your picking outfit on.
Over the years I have found the leaves on certain plants irritate my skin, so it’s a long sleeve top and gloves for me.
I have found these little creature comforts are so important to the mood on the day.
Itchy arms can quickly move into resentment for the project at hand.
Not a factor you need, when processing is time consuming as it is, from washing, chopping, cooking and bottling.
I sometimes break it down, I pick, wash, and leave to dry one day, and then chop, process, and bottle the next.
On a more practical note, when chilli’s are heated up in the pan or the dehydrator the aroma fills the house and can become unbearable on the eyes.
In more recent years I have found ventilation is the key and often I have made the hot sauces outside on a camping stove.
Quite fun on a crisp Autumn day.
This year we harvested around 8-10 kilos of chillies off 13 plants.
Last year we only did a mixed hot sauce which was hugely successful.
It was great to flavour cooked products like a chilli mince or alternatively on a wrap as a condiment for lunch.
I have found as long as you respect the heat and cautiously add to dishes, its a great addition to the store cupboard.
With this large harvest it gave a lot of scope to experiment.
I decided that I would try some single chilli mixes and have a play around with sweet and sour compliments.
I will keep you posted on the success rates when we try them.
Mixed hot Sauce
Ingredients
Mixture will produce around 4 jam jars.
- 450g chillies
- 1 onion, chopped
- 6 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 4 tablespoons ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons turmeric
- 25g root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 3/4 of a cup of olive oil
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 1/4 cups white vinegar
Instruction
- Sterilise the jars in an oven at 120c for 15 minutes
- Chop the chillies, including the seeds
- Mix together the chillies, onions, garlic, cumin, turmeric, ginger, salt
- Put them into a pan with oil and fry for 15 minutes, stirring often to stop sticking
- Add sugar and vinegar and bring to the boil. Cover the pan and boil for 10 minutes and stir occasionally
- Once the 10 minutes have come to an end, you have a choice, you can blend or leave it whole
- Pack the mixture into jars, then seal.
Remember you may not feel strong but you are.
Love
The Rose-Tinted Mum
The Rose Tinted mum 