This is my chilli harvest.
The weather has finally turned cool and I have brought the last ones in to dry on top of the wood burning stove.
What I cannot share with you is their wonderful and unexpected scent of vanilla! After being toasted on the stove, the remaining sugars release a real smell of caramel and I can understand where the idea of chili chocolate must have come from. Cooked, they are pungent and spicy enough to make your eyes sting, but before cooking they are innocently sweet.
I like growing chilies because you have to start them so early on the window sill in spring. When the weather is still drear out side but my fingers are itching to start gardening again, they germinate faithfully in their trays and the sturdy little green plants grow slowly but surely until it is frost free and safe to plant them out. They need a good summer to flower and for the seed pods to ripen, but I have only had one disastrous year and generally they do very well in our warming world.
Chopped and stored in a jar, they will heat curries and many other dishes in the drear time before I can plant some seeds again!
Cathy's real country garden 
Lovely to see them – and looking so beautiful in their dish! What variety are you growing Cathy – I used to grow ‘Joe’s Long’ from DT Brown until Brexit – now experimenting with Sucette de Nice (my memory!!) – but I do miss old Joe – he was so reliable and prolific! Have a good week!
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I also used to get chili seeds from Spring seeds but they can’t send to France due to Brexit- grrrr! The chilis pictured are Vilmorin Piment de Cayenne. Not the hottest but still tasty
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Annoying isn’t it! I’ve made a note of yours and may try it next year. I’ve been buying from Baumaux and also Ferme de St Marthe since Brexit – Baumaux I like a lot. So maybe it’s all good – I’m buying seed in France!
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Thanks for the idea, I will investigate!
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I’ve just looked around Baumaux’s catalog. I can feel another link to Blighty severing!
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chili chocolate, now that’s something I haven’t tried or even come across; I love chocolate, especially dark chocolate, but I do not love chilies–
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It’s not a combination I like but I like both separately!
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Surprising to know that chillies have a vanilla smell. Who would have guessed? I have never tried to grow them, but perhaps I should. I think I was worried I wouldn’t be able to use them all.
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I think you only get the smell after they have been dried on something hot (the stove) . They are easy to grow , if slow and the dried ones last for years.
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I don’t eat chilies so don’t grow them.
Lovely dahlias, shame they’re the last ones for this year. xx
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The frost is hovering , but there are a few scruffy ones left still. Xx
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I might try a pot of your chillies next year. The ones I have are very mild and it would be good to have both sorts. The peppers are very decorative in pots too. Amelia
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I’ ve never tried growing them in a pot. It’s a good idea!
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