This single Chilli Pepper plant that I confess to buying ready grown from the garden center back in May of this year has been worth every penny of it's £5.99 price tag. It has given us such a huge crop of chillies both to eat over the summer finely sliced in lots of dishes, and also to freeze and have in store over the Winter.
I pick them off every time I see that at least half of the chillies on the plant have turned red. I usually get a mix of teeny tiny ones and some real whoppers.
To freeze I simply wash and dry them and then put them in a single layer to open freeze, once frozen they are simply tipped into a ziplock bag and placed back in the freezer. When you want to use one they thaw in minutes or can be sliced while still frozen or just thrown whole into any dish that you might want to fish it out of before serving.
This is how the bush looks this morning, once again ready for another harvest .... but if the truth were told I always leave them a little too long on the plant just because they just look so wonderful. I don't like chilli that much but a few little red flecks in many a dish bring a warmth and a treat for the eye, so I am learning to ... bit by bit.
I've looked after the plant and it has been fed along with the tomatoes all through the growing season, now I'm wondering if I can slow it's growth and nurture it through the Winter months by bringing it into the house. Has anyone else successfully done this with a bought in plant? My chilli seed packets seem to think that a homegrown plant could be nurtured this way, so I'm hoping unless they brought it on too quickly and too early I should be able to do it with this little goldmine of a plant.
Sue xx
