Vegetable of the month: chillies

The vibrant glossy fruits of the chilli plant are a firm favourite at the farm.>

Get fired up

Chillies can be grown outside, but like to have a warm, sunny sheltered position, so we grow ours in one of our four polytunnels. If you’d like to have a go at home, try growing in pots on a sunny patio or, better still, in a greenhouse or conservatory.

Hot stuff

The strength of a chilli is listed on the Scoville Heat Scale. The scale measures concentrations of the chemical compound capsaicin – the component that produces the heat sensation in humans.

Let it grow

When chillies are left to ripen on the plant, new flowers fail to form which can lead to a reduction in yield by 25% or more. That’s many commercial growers pick their chillies early. However, at the farm, we leave chillies to ripen on the plant because we love the deeper colouring and hotter flavour this produces. And that makes lower yields worthwhile.

Variety’s the spice of life

The most well-known chillies are the spice-type, which are small, thin-fleshed and used solely for their flavour. Typically, they’re added to dishes in such small quantities, they go unnoticed – except for their heat. There are also larger, vegetable-type chillies with a thicker flesh, that bring spice and substance to meals. They’re delicious fried, stuffed or added to salads.