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!

A mixture of many things over the last two months has meant that my blog has been neglected of late.

Thanks again for all of the entries and votes in this month’s competiton.

Voting was close right until the end, and then there was one person pulled slightly ahead with just over 50% of the vote. So, this month’s winner is …

Thank you for all of the entries for this month’s competition.

Remember that you choose the winner of this month’s competition, so once you have chosen your favourite, continue down to the bottom of the blog, and complete the form to register your vote. You might want to cook some of these recipes too to help you decide which one is your favourite.

The vote closes at 12 noon on 31st August, so get voting!

Here are this month’s finalists …

After a short break last month, here is this month’s Cultivate, Cook & Click Competition.

So, here is a reminder of the rules …

It’s getting towards that time of the year when allotment holders start complaining that they have a glut of a one particular fruit/veg or another. When that happens to me, a glut is just the excuse I need to start making jams and preserves!

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!

Two of the many loves of my life are Far Eastern Food & chillies, and this recipe covers both of those!

This is the first in what will be a more regular feature where I share some of my favourite recipes. I can guarantee that these will not be overly complicated, as I like my food to be delicious, and on my table as quickly as possible!

This recipe is a hot and sour Thai soup, and is great if you have any leftover chicken from the Sunday roast.

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.