Local Home Deliveries (Lancaster Area)

For those living in the Lancaster and Morecambe area, we would like to remind you that The Devil’s Garden can deliver lots of chilli goodies right at your doorstep!

Once you have chosen a selection of fiery treats (£10 minimum), just send us a quick email from our contact page (here) so we can proceed with your order and waive the delivery fee that you would normally pay when ordering through the website.

Many people who are now regular customers have already benefited from this service and keep telling us how easy and lovely it is to receive everything by hand which avoids delivery problems we have had with Royal Mail such as broken jars or burst packets of crisps.

We always offer suggestions and make people aware of the special deals we have going on at the moment which is also greatly appreciated. Chilli produce can be a bit scary sometimes and many people do not know if they will be able to handle the heat or are simply wary of the brand but are quickly reassured by our enthusiasm and thank us once they have tasted such treats as Mr Vikki’s curry pastes, Chilli Pepper Pete’s naga hot sauces or Blair’s Death Rain range of crisps!

Hot Headz Whole Chillies and Spices

What sort of bland food would we have to ingest without the wonderful use of chillies and spices eh? We started off like most people by adding too much salt and inferior pepper to our food before discovering a whole world of scents, spices and fragrant herbs. We have been experimenting for a few years now and are aware (mostly hopefully!) of what kind of spice goes with what type of food although we still come up with weird concoctions from time to time!

When setting up the Devil’s Garden we were able to play around a bit with various dried types of chillies. Our heart was set on Hot Headz’ spices and chillies as they are of great quality and fantastic to use on a daily basis, our personal favourites being their whole Chipotle Chillies (so great in Sweet Potato & Chorizo Soup!) as well as whole Habaneros (so hot yet so good!).

We also love to use less potent stuff such as dried whole Pasilla, Guajillo, Ancho, Mulato and New Mexico chillies. We couldn’t wait to try De Arbol chillies as we had heard these were fiery and very tasty and believe us, we weren’t disappointed!! For months now we have also been using Hot Headz Dried Naga Chilli Flakes which we have put in a shaker and Ground Habanero Chilli Powder which definitely adds heat to any dish, however small an amount you put in!

The great thing about these chillies and spices is that they will last you ages. Despite our constant consumption of chopped up dried chillies we never seem to reach the end of a bag!

Hot Headz Spicy Snacks and Condiments

Hot Headz are of course known for their great hot sauces such as Who Dares Burns 2nd Assault or Satan’s Sweat but their condiments and snacks are also great for all chilli heads out there.

Whether you are planning on hosting a fancy dinner party, just want to have something to put in your sandwich or want to smother your meat or fish on the barbecue with something flavoursome and powerful, Hot Headz has got the perfect treat in store for you like their Bramley Apple & Jalapeno Salsa, Chilli Pepper Relish, Smoked Chilli & Garlic and, one of our personal favourite: Chilli Piccalilly!

A produce you don’t see often around these neck of the woods is a Chile Con Queso sauce which Hot Headz have got down to a T. This is a traditional Mexican appetizer better described as a smooth creamy sauce made from a blend of melted cheeses, cream and chilli peppers and usually served warm. We have had it in Quesadillas and over Nachos and it was just brilliant!

For a little pick me up at work, in front of the telly or simply because you need a chilli fix, try also Hot Headz nuts which are really worth the detour! Whether you go for Who Dares Burns Peanuts or Satan’s Nuts, you will be impressed by the flavour and spicy coating of these devilish nuts!

Hot Headz’ hot sauces: for the delicate palate as well as for the crazy one!

We stocked Hot Headz’ hot sauces from the start, not only because of their proved quality over the years, but because the variety and novelty of some of them are also well worth talking about.

Take Satan’s Sweat hot sauce for example. This is a sauce we use on a constant basis as well as its progenitor; we are of course talking of Son of Satan’s Sweat. This is just a wonderful everyday sauce that we have on its own but is also fantastic used in a variety of dishes from Chinese Noodles to spicy Carrot Soup.

At the other end of the spectrum there are hot sauces that are more interesting for their flavour than their heat although Hot Headz has a reputation for producing rather hot things! The Bajun or Szechuan Marinade & Stir-Fry hot sauces are amongst these, as well as their Liquid & Hickory Smoke.

Hot Headz are really keen to get two types of chillies known, one being Naga or Bhut Jolokia, the other one being the already beloved Habanero. Hot Headz’ Habanero Heaven hot sauce is just that: heaven while Hot Headz Naga & Chipotle hot sauce makes us weak in the knees just twisting the cap and smelling its pungent flavour!

There are plenty more spicy treats to be enjoyed from Hot Headz, their Who Dares Burns and Who Dares Burns 2nd Assault being some of their most popular hot sauces, personally endorsed by Darth Naga, the nutter who just tries anything devilishly spicy!

So go and have a look at the tasty hot sauces Hot Headz have got to offer, your tastebuds will thank you for it!

A Little Help for Something Extreme

Official Team Extreme started posting their videos on YouTube in February last year and soon gained popularity by trying some of the hottest sauces currently on the market.

They describe themselves as “a collective of nutcases” which is easy to see when watching a video of Mark Golder drinking a whole shot glass of Dave’s Ghost Pepper sauce or the team sampling some goodies sent to them from us at The Devil’s Garden such as The Chilli Pepper Company’s 15 Minute Burn “Pocket Rocket”, Blair’s Ultra Death Hot Sauce and Chilli Pepper Pete’s Dragon’s Blood Batch 13.

Mark Golder contacted us this week to see if we would be willing to help raise awareness for their new challenge which is to collect £2,000 or more which will go to the Brittle Bone Society as his compadre, Barry Murphy, has got a daughter who is sadly affected by Brittle Bone Disease also known as Osteogenesis imperfecta and Lobstein Syndrome.

In exchange for your generous donations, the team will do their worst/best video yet i.e drinking a whole shot of The Chilli Pepper Company’s Naga Viper which is probably the hottest natural sauce on the market at the moment. The trailer for the challenge can be seen here!

So if you want your day brightened by watching absolute nutters regret the very day they were born then follow this link, make a donation and make this happen! http://www.justgiving.com/nagaviperchallenge

Get the best start with Growth Technology’s Root Riot!

When it comes to growing plants from scratch, people are left with numerous choices influenced by the latest fashion and commercial whims which makes it difficult sometimes to keep an objective eye.

After researching several options we at the Devil’s Garden decided to stock Growth Technology’s Root Riot cubes. These cubes (available as a tray of 24 or refill bag of 100) are just fantastic as they allow you to get sturdy and healthy young plants that can then be potted on or planted out.

The cubes are supplied already moist and are inoculated with beneficial bacteria to accelerate the rooting process as well as micronutrients to nourish the young plants as they develop.

Growth Technology Root Riot Propagation Kit is also great if you want to avoid trailing the shops for equipment. The kit includes full instructions on how to plant seeds or cuttings, 24 Root Riot cubes, 100 ml of nutrient solution, a bottle of Clonex (rooting hormone gel), plant labels, a black pencil and even a sterile scalpel!

If you want to really go all out take a look at our range of hydroponics from Greenhouse Sensations. From small ones that can fit on your window sill to full on SolarGrow, QuadGrow or OctoGrow, hydroponics are great to use when the time comes to repot you seedlings.

We have had some fantastic results over the years and although we still grow plants using traditional methods we always come back to propagation products like Growth Technology Chilli Focus, Root Riot cubes and the use of hydroponics.

The Devil Grows Chillies

We are not going to pretend we are the best at producing chillies here at the Devil’s Garden compared to experienced growers such as Woody from Firefoods and his Infinity Chilli or Ged from The Chilli Pepper Company and his now notorious Naga Viper Chilli (his super hot natural hot sauce Naga Viper is now back in stock, get your hands on it quick!).

We are still keen to show people how easy it can be to grow chillies though and have therefore set up a new blog called “The Devil Grows Chillies” where you will be able to see our crop of chillies for 2011 progressing from start to finish.

We have already started our chilli seeds, some of which are also available at The Devil’s Garden in our “Grow your own” section. We have also started tomatoes as we usually get very good results every year, especially when using hydroponics.

We hope to provide as many pictures, updates and information as possible over the coming months and hope to do this every year, changing or improving our methods each time. As always, we are here to provide you with advice if you need it so don’t hesitate and email us.

Spotlight on Chilli Focus

Now is the perfect time to start your crop of chillies for 2011, so we thought we would bring to you some of the best fertilizer on the market, specifically manufactured for the needs of chillies.

Whether you are an experienced grower or just beginning to learn about chilli peppers, Chilli Focus from Growth Technology is the real deal to help you grow healthy and vigorous plants encumbered with colourful fruits (see our chilli seeds section for rare and popular chilli plants!).

Chilli Peppers have specific nutritional requirements and although one can get good results growing with traditional methods, we find that the extra push from Chilli Focus really makes a big difference.

Chilli Focus which in itself is a feeding programme for chillies is manufactured from the purest and most soluble mineral salts. It is fortified and enhanced with a complex profile of organic plant acids and contains no urea which is partly what sets Growth Technology apart from other competitors.

We have already started using some of that Chilli Focus (available in bottles of 300 ml or 500 ml) on our young chilli plants and the results are great. The leaves are plentiful and of a healthy green and you can tell that the plants are truly loving their vitamin boost!

Another Mad Sauce from Mad Dog!

Let’s face it, there can never be enough hot sauces to content a true chilli head and the latest Mad Dog creation we offer at the Devil’s Garden is definitely one to try, that’s if you are up to the challenge of course!

Although not as hot as the silver edition but still totally insane, Mad Dog’s 357 Ghost Pepper hot sauce is well known and respected by chilli lovers all over the world. Only a couple of drops will liven up your meal. Some have tried it raw and lived to tell the tale but most of them regretted their cockiness!

It tastes fantastic though. A kind of sweet and smoky flavour that entices your tastebuds before the heat kicks in. The Ghost Pepper is of course the main component along with chilli extract but some habaneros and peri-peri peppers have also been added, creating an intense and complex mix of flavours.

So if your tastebuds are tired of the same old bland tastes, whip them up to shape with Mad Dog’s 357 Ghost Pepper Sauce!

A world of chutneys await you at Dartmoor Chilli Farm!

We, at the Devil’s Garden, always try and bring you the latest and best chilli produce available out there. Dartmoor Chilli Farm yet again is one of the top brands for chilli chutneys, with three new arrivals:

Just when we thought we had tried pretty much any sweet chutney on the market, Dartmoor Chilli Farm come up with this great Plum, Apple and Cinnamon Chilli Chutney. We love making brie paninis with it or use it as a condiment alongside cold meats. The great thing about this chutney is that it is not overly sweet, making it truly delicious and adaptable to a number of dishes. The mild heat from Dartmoor Chilli Farm’s chilli powder also means that it can be enjoyed by the wariest of consumer.

Rhubarb lovers your prayers have been answered! Dartmoor Chilli Farm’s Rhubarb and Ginger Chilli Chutney is a dream come true. Dartmoor Chilli Farm have once again managed to create a chutney combining great flavours and what could be better than rhubarb, chilli and ginger? We particularly love it with Wensleydale or Lancashire cheese or as a side to a Ploughman’s Platter for a bit of a twist.

Last but not least is Dartmoor Chilli Farm’s Sweet Chilli Chutney which has an interesting mix of chillies: jalapeno, cayenne and cherry bomb. These different flavours combined with a medium heat create a wonderful chutney that we love having with pretty much anything!

New Hot Sauces from The Dartmoor Chilli Farm

Keen to impress, Dartmoor Chilli Farm has come up with some new hot sauces that are extremely appealing.

First off is the Pineapple Hot Sauce made using fresh habaneros which are renowned for their fruitiness and the pungeant Hungarian Hot Wax chillies. This sauce from Dartmoor Chilli Farm is truly great used as a dip for Indian food (especially samosas!), a hot fruit coulis, as part of a salad dressing or marinade and even mixed in with yogurt!

Dartmoor Chilli Farm’s Dynamite Hot Sauce is their hottest sauce and as its name indicates it really packs a punch but is also full of flavour. Made with tomatoes, red peppers, cider vinegar and oregano, this is a sauce that goes with a hell of a lot of things but is also very pleasurable on its own. With over 20% of Bhut Jolokia chillies, this sauce has got an attitude and a heat that will last long after you have tasted it. We love it in pasta or stews or drizzled over goat’s cheese melting on a good wedge of just toasted farmhouse bread (awesome!)...

Although technically not a traditional hot sauce we couldn’t resist introducing Dartmoor Chilli Farm’s Ancho and Chocolate Sauce which is their own version of a traditional Mexican mole sauce which is made with their own dark chilli chocolate and archetypal ancho chillies. The smoothness and richness of the sauce make it highly delectable and can be used with sweet or savoury food. We have cooked it with chicken and smothered fresh strawberries with it and both really worked well!

So if you like it hot hot hot or want to be adventurous, try one of these great hot sauces and let us know what you think!