South Devon Delights - Chilli Farm

This last weekend we were visiting Andy's parents in South Devon and had been thinking it was about the time of year we should decide what Chillis we'd like to grow this year. Last year was our first foray into the wonderfilled world of Chill growing, afrer an inspiring visit to the South Devon Chilli Farm just a few miles down the road from Loddiswell.

We first visited the Chilli farm last summer and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, spending a couple of hours there, taking it all in.

We took our time admiring the huge array of fruiting plants in the massive display tunnel and asked a passing member of staff a couple of questions about growing peppers. He was very cheery and knowledgeable chap who turned out to be the owner of the farm and he took us into the growing tunnels that aren't open to the public, to show us how they look after their thousands of plants. We got to see the long rows of elevated Chillis, all lined up in special beds with irrigation pipes built into the soil. He talked us through some of their processes and let us try one of the chillis straight from the plant. It was called Cherry Bomb and was one that Andy had shown a particular interest in on their website. I got the wrong end of the stick about which part to nibble and got a pretty fiery mouth as a result. I tried to play it down as Andy and the other chap were calmly enjoying the "mild and flavoursome warmth" of the red flesh. When it emerged that I had bitten straight into the white membrane where most of the heat resides everyone agreed I'd been very restrained, which was some comfort but I really wished I had a bottle of milk to relieve the burning.

We had fun perusing the gift shop which is stocked full of treasures; chilli chocolates, chilli chutneys, jams, oils, sauces, seeds, flakes, fresh chillis in season, gifts and kitchen items. 

We liked the look of some unusual pale yellow, milder chillis called Santa Fe Grande and took some home with us, along with some great tips for a yummy new recipe to try with some goats cheese. We also barbecued some cut in half lengthways, with the seeds and membrane removed and they were pretty special.

There are lots of little tasting stations around the shop and we treated ourselves to this Hot Apple Jelly last time. It's delicious and makes sausages even more amazing than they already are, if that's possible, esp with gravy.

Last year, we dried a lot of the Chillis we harvested and ground some down to make our own chilli flakes and added lots to our cooking. This year we'd like to preserve some in oil and maybe make our own chilli jam.

This time around we visited earlier, in late May, and bought younger plants so that we can enjoy seeing them grow and develop their white starry flowers and young pearly green fruit. We're not experts but we have a book and the advice from the South Devon Chilli Farm behind us.

The plant nursery has so many different Chilli plants for sale, all with a clean bill of health and looking very adorable to any broody chilli grower! This year we spent about ten minutes in total as we were on our way to the nearby Valley View Cafe for lunch. We decided on just one mature plant, a Chenzo, for our hanging basket by our front door. We had one of these last year, a really nice bushy, branching plant, not too tall, and full of fruits that darkened from green to deep black to fiery red.

Then we chose seven assorted baby plants; Demon Red, Twilight, Medusa, Pyramid, Trinidad Scorpian and two Prairie Fire, one of which Andy is going to grow on his windowsill as his little office pet. This one is a smaller, rounder little plant with tiny, pale yellow Chillis that point upwards in little clusters. Cuteness. They are all now potted on and we are going to keep a careful watch over them all in the hopes of lots of varied Chillis to come.

You don't have to spend a lot to enjoy growing your own Chillis, and you can also grow them from seed. The younger the plant the cheaper, so if you're passing soon, pop in and see what's available and have a soothing cuppa while you're at it.
If you have little children, you'll also be glad to know there's a play park.
July is the best time to see the display of Chillis but buying plants is best earlier in the summer, when they have the younger plants available and a greater choice. However, it's free to visit, so if you're not too far away go more than once!

Chills really are rather gorgeous and you won't believe some of them until you see them. I'm sure you'll discover your own favourite, whether it's based on colour, flavour or name, and you'll be away.