The chillies are a'comin

We have had some amazing chilli growing weather of late, and that, along with Elliot fertilising the crap out of the plants, has made for some amazing looking chilli and tomato plants which will soon be providing a plethora of fire-filled fruits.

The fertilising is only one part of the Elliot care package these plants receive. The love and attention these things get may be considered somewhat obsessive, weird, extreme. It all just seems kinda normal to me now. Not sure if that says more about me or him. No less than four times a day the jandals and sunglasses go on and a quick "you know where I'll be" signals I have a good half hour to watch a snipet of Come Dine With Me, Project Runway or am able to cook in peace.

I'm still trying to figure out whether the comment the other night about playing music to them was in jest.

However, whatever he is doing is working as these are some extremely good looking plants which are bigger and bushier than last year and will be providing an abundance of fruit in no time.

When they went out at Labour weekend

7 December

Just three weeks later

As you can see from above, the three weeks we have had of hot, still, dry weather has worked absolute wonders and the plants are thriving. Flowers are blooming and fruit is setting on the chillies and the rest of the garden of herbs, lettuces and strawberries are growing extremely well. And we are getting very good at nabbing the strawberries and tomatoes just as they begin to ripen before those pesky birds get to them.

We have harvested the last of our potoates - half of which went with Mams to help feed the troops at the Dunedin Christmas and half stayed with us for an amazing potato salad and some potato rosti topped with bacon and eggs for one of those brunches that contributes to the inevitable weight loss new year's resolution.

Potato salad with bacon, sundried tomatoes and basil mayo

Potato rosti with eggs, bacon and sundried tomato and basil mayo

So, here are some pics of the chilli plants, the rest of the garden and just a few of the meals we have enjoyed over the summer so far made better by some of the fruits of our labour. More food and recipes to come.

Ornamental chilli - NuMex Twilight

Not having any trouble with basil this year

This is this Bhut Jolokia's third season

Bushier tomato varieties for the pots have worked really well

Carolina Reaper - the world's hottest chilli

Big Bhut Jolokia

Jalapenos a plenty

Takanotsume

Chilli row

Habanero - from the seeds of last year's best Habanero plant

Just planted some new coriander as am using plenty

A few decent sized lemons have set

Quesadilla feast with herbs from the garden

Lettuce, coriander and mint ready for spring rolls

Our delightful summer deck

Chilli with chilli seasoning, chilli beans and chilli powder

When you are poor and have to bring yourself to eat mince, there is only one thing that makes that thought palatable to me and that is burritos. Hot ones.

There are of course a gazillion and one chilli recipes out there, but this is my own which is done in a slow cooker and bulks the mince out with some veges and tinned ingredients from the pantry. And it is of course, well, rather spicy.

For the chilli:
600g beef mince
Half an onion
1 clove of garlic
1 zucchini
1 carrot
1/2 capsicum
Old El Paso chilli seasoning
1 tsp Bhut Jolokia powder
Can of tomatoes
Can of hot chilli beans
Salt
Oil

Heat a bit of oil in a frying pan and fry the chopped onion and garlic for a couple of minutes. Add the capsicum.

Add the mince, breaking it up as you add it. You just need to brown the mince so it does not need to be cooked through - browning it just helps seal the flavour in.

Mix the canned tomatoes, chilli beans, seasoning and Bhut Jolokia powder in a bowl.

Put the mince mixture into the slow cooker and add the chopped carrot and zucchini.

Add the tomato mixture to the mince and veges and mix through.

Put on a low heat for about 6 hours. Add salt to taste.

Do with it what you will - tacos, nachos, chilli and rice, sloppy joes, with bread. I am told the possibilities with mince are endless. I will take their word for it.

Burritos is the only place this mince was headed and so a wrap was warmed for 30 seconds in the microwave and topped with lettuce, tomato, red onion, cheese, jalapenos and finished with a dollop of sour cream and decent sprinkling of coriander from the garden.

Ohhhhh man, so good. So tasty. And so incredibly spicy.

Being broke never tasted so good.

You know you're old when...

Oh, there are so many things in my life that could complete that sentence, but in this instance it was realising that Labour weekend is no longer a boozy long weekend away with friends, but instead a weekend to stay home (and look forward to doing so) to do gardening.

Yes, henceforth Labour weekend will be the time Elliot and I plant our chillies and tomatoes outside. And think about how old we are.

This Labour weekend saw some stunning weather (a shame for the neighbours who had to endure the short-donning pastey whites) so we had to set aside one day to not be hungover (however, the stag do Elliot attended on Saturday night was not conducive to a fully functioning Elliot on either Sunday or Monday) to venture to Bunnings to haul 400 litres of potting mix and compost and the few hours of planting to follow.

We had gathered a fair few buckets from Elliot's dad Philsie so didn't need to purchase any more pots. Holes were drilled (some by myself without connecting with any flesh so that was a success, although we were not totally injury free...) and we then mixed a bag each of the potting mix and the compost on a tarpaulin ready to fill the 17 buckets we needed.

Not quite the stake injury of  2012, but sore enough

So we planted 15 new chilli plants this season, consisting of:

• 3 Habanero (two from some seeds from our best Habanero last year)
• 1 Jalapeno 
• 3 NuMex Twilight
• 2 Trinidad Scorpion Butch T
• 2 Carolina Reaper
• 2 Bhut Jolokia 
• 2 Takanotsume

We also planted two tub-friendly tomato plants - these varieties grow bushier as opposed to taller so are easy to maintain in pots.

We also have a number of over-wintered chillies that are still alive and ready to start producing again.

Once the holes were drilled in the buckets and the soil was ready, the buckets were filled about three quarters to the top, a stake was placed in down to the bottom of the bucket (do this before putting the plant in so as not to damage the roots), the plant was carefully placed in and then the soil filled almost to the top of the bucket. They then need a really good water and a place in the sun.

Note the change of clothes..
Only minutes after mocking me mercilessly for getting saturated by
the faulty hose..well,  I think we all know what happened...

Some are living on the deck and some are just down below. They have been outside for one week and are looking great.

Our potatoes are going nuts so there will hopefully be some gems in there next month and ready for Christmas. Saving for a house does not make for a very long and comprehensive Christmas shopping list so those who do not eat hot sauce (Dad) may just get potato salad.

Elliot, in all his manliness, also insisted on replanting some "pretty flowers" so we have a lovely colourful deck.

So, let it all begin again. The insane hotness that is the coming months and the new and exciting recipes to try and things to do with the abundance of chillies we will have. Plus the dauntingness that is trying the world's hottest chilli...

Spring's sprung

Daffodils, lambs, lighter evenings and not having to worry about plants being battered by frosts and hail are just some of the many delights of the season and some recent stunning weather (which apparently followed a hideous storm which must have passed over while I was in a chardonnay-induced coma) meant some replanting was in order.

We have been rather lucky with a mild winter which has meant we haven't been too unlucky with our plants.

Our shallots are booming.

Our herbs are in abundance.

The spinach is being devoured regularly.

The spring onions have been separated out and are growing strong.

The garlic is getting bigger and bigger and the mustard lettuce has gone crazy.

And the potatoes have taken off as expected. Once the sprouts start coming out they need heaping over almost every day. It only takes about two minutes to do and it's great to see progress so quickly - it's one of the most rewarding crops to grow.

The lemons and limes are starting to fruit and hopefully they will set. Mams has always had a problem with the little fruits dropping off but apparently keeping them well watered will hopefully do the trick. We also added some citrus fertiliser which should be used only about four times a year. I really do hope they grow as looking out our kitchen window to a HUGE lemon tree with head-sized lemons and not being able to nab a few is killing me!

And our lettuces have all been eaten so some new cos and tom thumbs have gone in.

The lavender Elliot cut right back has grown back really well and is beautiful and fragrant.

And of course, Elliot's reason for being, the chillies. He has fertilised the plants quite heavily this year and as a result they are huge and will be absolutely massive when they go out into the real world probably later this month.

 

They have been going outside for a few hours at a time to start hardening off - they get some real sunlight and experience some wind. One of us stands and watches them like a hawk. I won't say who.

The bhut jolokias and Carolina reapers are huge (not looking forward to those reapers - a new one for us this year - they are insanely more hot than a habanero which is no joke).

We have some habaneros growing from seeds which we saved from our best habanero last year - and they are going great guns.

I know I have turned into a fully fledged gardening geek when on my trip to King's Plant Barn to get some lettuce seedlings, I was excited by seeing the rows and rows of chillies, tomatoes and even strawberries (too early for them!) out and this means the heat and sun and summer is on its way.

Elliot and I miss our wee garden at Sunset Road, but know not having the space or soil for extravagant vege patches does not mean we can't keep doing what we love and enjoying the many fruits (and veges) of our labour.