Welcome To Our First Newsletter

Let's get into it !

It's Time To Get Your Chillies Planted.

If you live roughly on Latidude 30 S the best period to get your seedlings in the ground is July through to January.

Living south of Latitude 30 S then October through to December is your best transplanting season.

Soils & Fertilisers

On sandy soild you will need to dig in animal manure at approximately 1kg per square metre 2-3 weeks before planting. Water it in well.

This should be followed up with fortnightly additions of a fish-based fertiliser. For example, we use Charlie Carp, see www.charliecarp.com/home.html , on our little chilli patches at home. In extremely hot weather, drop this frequency to about once a month. The high rates of nitrogen in these fertilisers will encourage fruit production, but can also result in the fruit disease blossom end rot in very hot weather.

If the soil in your chilli patych is loamy then you will not need to dig manure into the soil (though it won't do any harm either, and the worms love it). Dress fortnightly with a fish fertiliser as in sandy soils.

Culture

Sow your chilli seeds in nursery trays or outdoor seed beds when there is no longer a risk of frost. These seedlings can be transplanted when they have 4-5 true leaves.

Space the plants 40-50cm apart with 70-80cm between the rows and add mulch at a thickness of at least 10cm.

Harvesting

For a discussion on harvesting, and of course preserving, see our Preserving You Chillies page.

Of course, if you have any questions, check our Growing Your Chillies page as we will have species specific information wherever it is relevent.

Otherwise go to our Nigel Knows page.

Recipe Of The Week

Hot & Spicy Corn Puffs

Makes about 35 puffs.

• 2 corn cobs
• 3 tblsp coriander leaves, chopped
• 6 spring onions, finely chopped
• 1 red cayenne chilli, seeded & finely chopped
• 1 large egg (70g +)
• 2 teasp ground cummin seeds
• 0.5 teasp ground coriander seeds
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 teasp salt
• pepper to taste
• oil for deep frying
• asian style sweet chilli sauce, to serve

Cut the corn off the cob with a sharp knife. Roughly chop the kernels then put them in a bowl with the remaining ingredients except the flour. Stir well. Then add the flour and mix well.

The batter texture will depend on the amount of juice in the corn. If it is excessively dry, add 1 tablsp of water. You shouldn't need anymore than that as the batter is meant to be dry. Let stand for 10 minutes.

Heat oil to 180 C . Drop slightly heaped teaspoons of the batter into the oil and cook for approximately 1.5 minutes, until puffed and golden.

Drain on paper towel and then serve immediately with the sweet chilli sauce as a dipping sauce.

Chilli Close Up - The Jalapeno

Pronounced halapenyo by the Mexicans and halapeeno by the rest of the world, they are instantly recognizable and have a wide range of uses.

The most common use in Australia is in pickled form in nachos and tacos. The enthusisast will grow/purchase fresh ones and chop them into a fresh salsa. Many non-Asian chilli or picante sauces use jalapeños as a source of medium level heat.

A significant percentage of jalapeño’s are smoked to produce chipotles, pronounced chipoatlays, which have been produced in Mexico since well before the Aztecs appeared.

Jalapeños are grown commercially in Western Australia, Queensland, and New South Wales. While there are a number of varieties, in Australia they are all simply labeled jalapeños. They can be grown in most areas of Australia however, the further south one goes, the longer the plant will take to reach maturity and full yield.

The plants usually grow from 60-90cm in height producing thick, fleshy pods 5-8cm long and 2-3 cm wide. Heat level is around 5-6 out of 10.