The sun has got his hat on

With the ongoing attacks from aphids I've been forced to move most of the chilies outdoors.  Whilst this deters the sap-sucking blighters, it's not done a lot to encourage the plants to flower or fruit. With the wettest April/May/June/July on record it's been a disastrous year for the garden with slugs demolishing anything that isn't washed away in the torrential downpours.

However, we're reliably assured that the jet-stream has now shifted and summer has begun at last. And, as I sit typing this, I can see sunshine through the window and, you never know, the forecasters might be right for once.

So, camera in hand, I've ventured out into the garden once more to record the somewhat limited progress of the Chilli Forest

It's certainly looking more forest-like these days.

There's about 15 different varieties of chilli in this photo alone.

Inferno - taken a while to ripen but now looking good.

Orozco flowers

Ancho Poblano 

Hungarian Carrot 

The Padrons are going strong now they've acclimatised to the outdoors.

Purple Jalapeno - Been a disappointing season for them with many plants amounting to nothing but this one at least has a few fruit to show for its troubles.

Yellow Scotch Bonnet - Good crop on this plant, grown from seed saved from a chilli bought in the supermarket

Big Jim - Three large fruit on such a small plant has left it somewhat unbalanced on the windowsill.

A modest harvest this week - Loco, Friar's Hat, Superchilli, Chilhaucle Negro, Hungarian Hot Wax and Black Hungarian.

Scorched!

Under the relentless heat the plants are having mixed fortunes.  Some are thriving in the heat with the forest of seedlings on the window sills are looking very lush and vigourous whilst the Habaneros and Black Nagas are putting on a growth spurt.  

Meanwhile there is plenty of flowers and fruit forming on the plants with the Superchilli bearing so much fruit that I've had to add extra sticks to support the weight of the branches.

Superchilli living up to its name

Loco

The Friar's Hat is ripening up quickly in the sunshine

Inferno

Meanwhile, some of the Padrons in the reception at work had to be moved outside as it was getting too hot for them inside.  Sadly a hot weekend in full sunshine proved too much for them and they were badly sunburnt.  Worst of all was a plant which had been blown over and proceeded to roast next to the scalding tarmac.  I've cut the plants back, removing the damaged leaves (and in the worse case, all bar 6 inches of the plant) and moved them to a more shaded location.  Hopefully they'll make a recovery, indeed a few new flowers have been spotted so all is not lost.

The scalded Padrons

Speaking of scalding Padrons, we harvested Claudio's peppers the other day and cooked them.  Firstly I've never seen such large Padrons before - for a chilli that's supposed to get up to thumb-sized at maximum, these were nearly twice the normal size.  The plants have been kept in a very hot conservatory and apparently need watering every morning.  I'm not sure if this is the reason for their growth spurt although Claudio suggested that it's because he talks to them in their native Spanish each day.

Upon tasting, these chillies were scarily hot, having a really good burn that lasted for some ten minutes afterwards.  According to all the literature, this particular chilli should only produce one hot one in ten but ours are consistently hot enough to have people reaching for the milk! I look forward to the next batch...