A Wild March Morning

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I had hoped, before I got up this morning, to be at my allotment today. I had planned to continue with a bit of digging, a bit of weeding and some tidying in preparation for the coming Spring season. I was going to pick some fresh daffodils and harvest some fresh leeks for dinner.
At  about 6.30 I was wakened by a deafening noise and my cats cuddling closer to me. Thunder and lightening, high winds and hailstones, enough to whiten everything they landed on. They even set off a couple of car alarms. When I contacted my children in London about it, they assured me it was bright and sunny there, if not exactly warm.
What was that I keep saying about March coming in like a lion and going out like a lamb? As the old saying goes. Let's hope the end of the month lives up to its end of the deal.
However, I have lots of stuff I can do at home.
I cleaned, set up and turned on my propagator a couple of days ago. Then I put several trays ready for sowing into the propagator to warm up the compost ready for sowing.
For now, I have sown Tomato - Ailsa Craig [ not a very exciting variety but, an old favourite which does produce a dependable crop of flavoursome, general purpose tomatoes]; I also sowed Fantasio F1 [ I have grown these large tomatoes for several years for cooking and preserving, they suit this purpose well and again they have done well for me]

I have sown several varieties of capsicums - most old favourites;
Sweet Pepper, California Wonder [ a good bell pepper for everything from salads, salsa, casseroles pizzas, etc], also Corno di Toro Rosso [ a long pointed sweet red pepper, just excellent in salads].
For my chilli sowings I started with Joe's Long [ I have found them a very reliable, medium heat chilli which dried well as the flesh is thin. This year I am using my own seeds as they are expensive to buy. I have found 2 plants is more than enough as they are prolific producers giving me lots for myself and to share.
I'm also trying another couple of hot chillies which I have not tried to grow before - Habanero and Scotch Bonnet. I have found that chillies can be tricky to germinate sometimes so, I have sown many more seeds than I think I might need. I use a lot of Scotch Bonnet in my preserves as they do add a good sting to the flavour.
Last year I sown some Naga Jolokia [ they were old seed which my son had kept from the previous year - 2 germinated, one of which died. They seem to be slow growing and certainly need a long growing season to produce fruit so, I kept my one remaining plant in a pot in my house overwinter. It is now starting to flower and although I have been told that chillies are self fertile I have tried to share the pollen of the flowers with a soft brush. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will have chillies from it. I'm not sure what I will do with them as they are reported to be the hottest chillies available at over 1,000,000 Schoville units.

I got hold of some seeds of their close relation the Ghost Chilli - White Bhut. I'm hopeful.

Along with the Naga Jolokia I also overwintered some Kashmiri Chillies. They have been producing and ripening a small number of fruits over the winter months and are strating to flower well now. I will keep them in my house for the season. Do try Kashmiri chillies - very mild and an amazing flavour.