AUTUMN

Week 27: Late September - Autumn slowdown

What must have been the very last gasp of summer happened on Saturday, and while I should have — or could have — been ticking off chores down on the plot, I found myself in somebody else’s garden on the Dorset coast. I was visiting Michael Michaud and his wife Joy, who grow all manner of exotic veg but specialise in chillies. If you watched Jamie Oliver’s recent programme, it was all about peppers, and while it appeared that Jamie had grown them himself, most had actually been supplied by the Michauds. They provide chilli enthusiasts all over the UK with exceptional varieties including the hottest chilli in the world, the Dorset Naga www.dorsetnaga.com, which they spent four years developing from a plant originally bought in Bournemouth by way of Bangladesh. I’ve visited their smallholding before, but this was the first time since I’ve become an allotment gardener. While I like to think of myself as a burgeoning horticulturalist, to see what they are up to with their acres of polytunnels makes me feel positively harebrained, but it’s truly inspirational to see their passion manifested in capsicum form. Check out their offerings at Peppers by Post www.peppersbypost.biz and Really Cool Seeds www.reallycoolseeds.com.

As well as picking up some fantastic tips — like using old bathtubs as herb or root beds, propped slightly at an angle for good drainage — I also picked a good time to drop by on the Michauds, as Joy had just packed and posted the latest harvest of poblano chillies — mild, greenish-red and about the size of two fists, and had a box of flawed specimens destined for the compost heap. “I can’t sell these,” she said, though they were all virtually perfect but for a scuff or tiny brown patch. “If you can use them, great, if not, your compost heap is as good as ours.” She’ll be pleased to know that all 20 or so got used up between a ratatouille, a roasted pepper salsa and a simple but sensational Sunday lunch dish of poblanos stuffed with tomatoes, garlic, olives and capers (see recipe below). One taste of these babies—sweet, succulent and with a little zing of heat—and you wonder why we put up with those watery Dutch supermarket excuses for peppers.

Back on our own turf, we’ve been ruminating over how we could fit in a mini-polytunnel, or at least a real greenhouse, and have a proper go next year with peppers and aubergines. It’s getting cold now, and what’s left is slowing down, but still filling the trug bountifully.

TIP OF THE WEEK: If you have had success growing chillies, remember they store brilliantly in the freezer and can be frozen whole and simply held under a hot tap for a few seconds to instantly defrost before use.

Seasonal Recipe: Piedmontese Poblanos

Elizabeth David first brought Piedmontese Peppers our way in her Italian Food in the 50s. Forty years later, Delia Smith penetrated nearly every British household with her version, and now Jamie’s done his! The original uses red peppers and anchovies. Jamie adds chillies and bacon. Here’s one of mine.

Preheat oven to 200 C. Cut 4 poblanos or 4 ordinary red peppers in half from stem to base. Carefully cut away the seeds, but leave just the stem in tact. This will help them hold their shape. Lay the peppers in a roasting dish, cut side up. Cut 4 plum tomatoes in quarters and place two tomato quarters in each pepper half (or chunks of vine tomatoes). Tuck several garlic slices into each. Tear fresh basil and tuck in, plus a few good quality black olives and a few capers. Follow with a generous glug of olive oil, a dribble of balsamic vinegar, and season generously with salt and pepper. Roast the peppers for 30-40 minutes or until they are starting to blacken around the edges. Eat hot, warm or cold, with bread. Serves 4

*Celia runs Gastrotours at Borough Market in London, which now includes brunch at Roast restaurant as part of the day’s feasting: www.celiabrooksbrown.com

Week 26: Mid September - Last of the salad days

Saturday was a perfect day. The sun was warm and there was barely a whisper of a breeze. We nestled our six pumpkins on mini-pillows of home-made hay and cleared away foliage so they can take advantage of the ripening rays. All the resident cats were out sunbathing, ignoring each other, too lazy to flinch at the unchallenging pigeons or unattainable squirrels. I indulged Puggie (so named on his collar), a ridiculously soppy moggy, in a stroking session as I sat in the sun leafing through my copy of The Vegetable Expert by Dr D.G. Hessayon. This is an extremely useful, comprehensive guide with a section for every veg on how to handle “Troubles”, though his solutions are all quite heavy-handed with the chemicals at the first sign of a problem.

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