thechilemans class of 2006

This winter after swamping the house and my fiancés art studio with over wintered plants, I promised her I would go easy this year and have decided to limited myself to only 50 or so new varieties (so far!). A full list of what I hope to grow (assuming they germinate) can be found here.

My 'themes' for this year are:

Wild species - unlike the common varieties which are fairly easy to grow, many of the rare wild species are supposed to be hard to germinate. I like a challenge!!

Tasty peppers - after all chiles are grown to be eaten. I've got plenty of new recipes I want to try this year particularly blisteringly hot ones to feed to my mates who 'can handle anything'

Unusual Pods & Beautiful flowers - as well as being great to eat, some chile varieties are simply stunning and make great gifts and house plants.

Preparation and Cleaning - Today I've had my marigolds on and have been doing one of the more depressing jobs - cleaning!!. I've scrubbed the planting bench, bleached old seed trays and cleaned the Chilehouse with Jeyes fluid to kill off any nasty diseases and pathogens which might be lurking there. There's nothing more depressing than seeing your little seedlings being wiped out by fungal diseases or hibernating slugs.