I was interested to read in the press that chillies are trading at an all time high. This article describes how the this years poor crop due to flooding and bad weather across India, Bangladesh as well as flooding in Pakistan and China has cause a poor quality crop and lower yields. As a result of last years stocks running low, the price of chilli futures has been soaring.
[ad name=”square”]
In fact I read elsewhere that a new Indian variety of chilli called ‘Badiga’ was sold for Rs10,300 a quintal, the highest price ever recorded at Asia’s largest chilli market in India.
Rising commodity prices and increased inflation of food prices are rarely out of the news at the minute. Rising demand and a lack of supply are the two main factors driving up chilli prices.
With Interest Rates at an all time low here in the UK, maybe buying chilli futures is not such a bad idea?!
Well for quite a while now my chilli plants that i am over wintering have been looking increasingly dead.After trimming them back in December, the plants have been looking so dormant i thought they were dead. First of all the stems took on a hallow look then the stems themselves started to turn black in colour which is never a good sign.
Despite appearing dead I have kept the plants inside and tried to keep them on a sunny windowsill as much as possible. Something that I haven’t perhaps done enough is move them away from the windowsill when the night time temperatures have been really low. As a result the cold drafts and low temperatures may have taken their toll on some of the plants.
However, I’m pleased to report that at the weekend one of the plants (an orange habanero) started to show signs of life. A couple of fresh shoots of growth have popped out of the dead looking stem.It just goes to show that you need to be patient when over wintering as it had crossed my mind to throw the plants away a couple of weeks ago.
It must be said that this plant had the least black looking stem of the plants so i suspect it may be the only plant to survive the winter. That said i’ve moved all of the plants to the sunniest window in the house and have even started to draw the curtains for them at night!
Time will tell if any other plants have made it through the winter. If not i’ll have at least one plant with a massive head start for the 2011 chilli growing season.
Have you over wintered any plants? We’d be interested to hear your success/failure stories. Just leave a comment below.
Related: Be sure to look at our ultimate overwintering guide.
This is a recipe inspired by a Jami Oliver recipe I tried many years ago. Easy to make and delicious it is great if you have people coming over as you can prepare it in advance.
Chilli Cheese Pasta Bake Ingredients
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 red chilli
3 tins of tomatoes
large handful of basil
1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar
400 g of dried pasta
4 handfuls of grated parmesan
3 balls of mozerella
Method
In a deep pan fry off the chopped onion, garlic and chilli in some olive oil until the onions have softened.
[ad name=”square”]
Next add the tomatoes along with a splash of water. Simmer for 15 minutes then liquidise in a food processor
Add salt, pepper, basil leaves and the vinegar to the sauce.
Boil your pasta according to the instructions. Drain the pasta and mix in half of the tomato sauce.
Add a layer of the pasta to a medium baking dish followed by a layer of sliced mozzarella and tomato sauce and Parmesan. Keep adding the layers until everything is in the tray and cook at about 200 degrees for 15 minutes.
