We Grow Our OwnThe trials and successes of life on our allotment

This post is not so much about how to grow your own chillies, but what to do with your bountiful harvest of chillies!

Following on from my video blogs giving tips on how to get your chilli seeds to germinate, and also how to make sure they grow from tiny seedlings into big healthy chilli plants and how to pollinate your chilli plants so that they produce chillies, this video blog explains how to deal with the most common diseases and nasties that can try and harm your lovely chilli plants!

Following on from my video blogs giving tips on how to get your chilli seeds to germinate, and also how to make sure they grow from tiny seedlings into big healthy chilli plants, this video blog explains what to do when your chilli plants starts developing flowers. The flowers are crucial, as they turn into chillies when the flowers have been pollinated.

You’ll remember that last month, I gave you some tips about how to give your chilli seeds the best chance of germinating, and starting to grow into big healthy chilli plants.

With all the current publicity about Britain holding the world record for the hottest chilli, you might have been bitten by the bug, and decided that you want to start growing your own chillies.

You may remember that recently I was lucky enough to win the competition run by Wahaca, the Mexican restaurant chain opened by Thomasina Miers, to be their ‘Chilli Guru!’

I’ve just had a very tiring, but such a fabulous weekend.

On Saturday I went to the West Dean Chilli Fiesta with Chris Jagger (@VolcanoChilli) and his wife Rosie.

As you know, I like my chillies. This year I’ve decided not only to grow twice the amount of varieties this year (19), but also to come over all Heston and experiment with different ways of growing them.

This week, since my greenhouse was becoming increasingly overcrowded, I decided to treat myself to a polytunnel, so that I would have more room to grow what I wanted.

I had a fantastic start to my weekend when I received an email from those lovely people at Wahaca to say that I had won their competition to be their resident ‘Chilli Guru!’

I’m looking forward to showing how anyone can grow chillies, no matter whether you have a sunny windowsill, or a garden the size of a small county. I’ll also be showing how versatile chillies can be, and how each variety of chilli is different in terms of flavour and heat, and can be added to all different types of food, even chocolate!

Watch this space for further details …