Just popping in with a quick newsletter to warm you up while the weather is still pleasant—a final reminder to take full advantage of this fine warm spell. Let's max out those sun rays while we can! I've also put together some Useful Tips.

Once again, the weather this year has been finicky and unpredictable. There was no heatwave early in June or July like last year, but at least August didn't turn out to be a washout. Temperatures throughout the summer have been a bit on the low side, but in the greenhouse, things were consistently over 25 degrees Celsius for most of the day.

The pest bane of this year was not aphids like last year, but slugs and snails. It was a constant battle to keep them off the tomatoes, especially the outdoor ones. I ended up putting the pots on buckets as the fruit dropped down onto the patio.

Once the chillies got to a reasonable size, they managed to keep the slugs off, but when they were young and tender, they too were predated on. Some outdoor ones like the Padron never really recovered. In the greenhouse, with its gravel floor, the slugs and snails were much easier to manage, and everything grew very well.

I've had some big successes this year with my Biquinho Red and Biquinho Yellow, and with Pepperoncini, which is a great chilli for pizzas. I've got absolutely loads of Japanese Shishito. My Vindaloo has scarcely stopped producing for nearly three months. Every time I pick them off, it starts flowering again, and bang—loads of lovely green pods.

With the super hots, which need that bit more time and heat, I've got good results with Chocolate Bubblegum, which didn't produce masses of pods, but boy, the ones it did produce look spectacular.

Also, the Yellow Moruga was a dramatic beast of a chilli—covered in bright golden orbs that have the most perfumed flavour I've ever tasted. Hot, strong, and fruity.