Chillies and their accompaniments

Having long been accustomed to an oriental oriented diet chillies quite often feature so it makes sense to grow our own, which I do every year. They can be grown outdoors in a sunny spot but with a greenhouse or polytunnel you can get a reliable crop. The conditions this Summer have been particularly conducive for growing chillies. As indeed has been the case for other greenhouse crops. Aubergines, sweet peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes have all been bountiful this year. I began harvesting some of the chillies today.

This year I have grown Hot Mexican, Early Jalapeno, and Hungarian Hot Wax. The latter are relatively mild so are useful if you want a chilli flavour but not too spicey hot. Chillies do have a distinctive flavour - its not all about heat.

Chillies freeze well so they can be used as needed throughout the year. So many of our meal preparation starts with chopping up ginger, garlic and a chilli. If not the latter, then spring onions. In terms of growing your own, of these, ginger is the one which presents a problem. It is difficult to grow decent sized roots and to keep them going over Winter. It is a while since I last tried so plan to have another go. Its is becoming increasingly possible to consider growing more 'exotic' fruit and vegetables in the UK, alas, for all the wrong reasons.