Not many people see my greenhouse, it’s tucked away at the back of the garden, obscured from view by a shed and a shrubbery.

This is a real shame as I have something growing in there that really deserves to be shown off.

Despite a lack of sunlight and cool temperatures for the time of year, Chilli ‘Chenzo’ is performing really well. Three plants set in a 10 litre pot filled with Westland organic vegetable growing compost with some added perlite for drainage, has made for such a rounded decorative display that I really wish things were warm enough to move the pot out of the greenhouse to give it centre stage on the patio (maybe next month, fingers crossed!).

The first chillies are already on their way to ripening, currently a deep purple colour – they’ll change to red as they fully mature. The three plants have formed a ball of foliage and flowers a good 60cm in diameter, and if the amount of flowers is an indicator, I should be picking hundreds of chillies later in the season.

The three Pepper ‘Diablo & Ringo’ growing along side the chillies have been slower to take off but are now catching up, each with several flowers and plenty more buds developing.

In the face of poor weather and light levels, what do I put the success down to? It has to be starting out with quality seed, using a decent compost and providing a weekly offering of Nutri tomato feed to encourage strong growth no matter what Mother Nature throws at them this season.