Grow your own chilis
Chilis not only taste great - when used appropriately and in moderation - they look good, too. Growing as colourful fruits on small bushes, they make an attractive addition to a windowsill or conservatory or, if you have a suitably sunny spot outside, a pot in the garden or greenhouse.
They’re also the perfect crop for the self-sufficientist without a garden of their own, as they take up very little space, and there are many handy ways of sowing and growing your seeds.
Our two favourites are seed matches, and the Pocket Garden. The seed matches (above) were bought back from Wahaca by a friend. Wahaca is a London restaurant specialising in Mexican market eating. They’re free to pick up at the end of your meal, and are a neat alternative to calling cards.
Although we’ve seen this idea used before for tomato seeds, it’s the first time we’ve come across it for spices, and it’s brilliantly simple. You simply poke the stick into a pot of fresh compost, water it and wait for your plant to grow. The black line half way up the stick marks the depth to which you should take it for perfect germination.
However, this year we’re growing our chilis using a Pocket Garden (below), which is the simplest method ever for getting your herbs and spices under way.
Pocket Gardens are foiled plastic packets about the size of the front pocket of a pair of jeans, ready-filled with rich soil and fertiliser. Tear open the top and remove a little of the soil, then shake in the seeds that you’ll find inside. Replace the soil and put it in a sunny spot on a windowsill, keeping it damp but not waterlogged.
In a couple of weeks you’ll get your first shoots, which you can then thin out, moving the weaker ones into pots of their own if you want to keep them going, and giving those that remain space to breathe. Let them continue growing until they reach maturity and start producing fruit.
Obviously with chilis the usual precautions about washing your hands whenever you’ve handled the fruit applies, and all the moreso when you’ve been touching their seeds. Whatever you do, don’t get them near your eyes.
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garden, gardening, self+sufficiency, self-sufficiency, vegetables, chili
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Our various salad crops are approaching readiness, and with 23 tomato plants of four different varieties to choose from we’re hoping for plenty to eat, and even more left over for another batch of chutney to see us through the winter.
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Self sufficiency doesn’t all have to be about growing your own vegetables, keeping chickens in the garden or screwing a solar panel to your roof. Sometimes it’s the smallest things that make the biggest difference.
We had our first proper harvest at the weekend. Three types of beans: French, runner and broad. Not a huge amount of any variety, but enough to cook ourselves a three-bean risotto for dinner.
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