Not the band but my latest polytunnel harvest:

I’m delighted how well I’ve done with Cayenne Peppers this year. Last year I managed a small handful of chili peppers but, as you can see from the photo, this year I’ve got enough to blow your socks off! The plants also have a few green peppers and even some flowers so I might get more but, even if it turns frosty this week and the plants drop dead, I’ve still had my best pepper harvest ever.

Half of them have been set to fermenting in a 3% brine solution (with a bit of garlic and carrot), which will end up being blended into hot sauce. The rest will be dried. I’ll probably do the red skins separately from the inner membranes and seeds so I can create one or more blends for colour and heat.

I’ll also try saving some of the seeds to germinate next year. The trick seems to be getting them going in a heated environment. Last year I hardly had any germination, fewer plants that made it to planting out and a very low final yield. With the germination knowledge, I feel empowered to try another batch next year, because I think the effort may be worth it.