Step by step

The method is more or less the same for making either garlic water or chilli pepper spray

TAKE a generous handful of fresh chilli peppers or two whole garlic bulbs – you don’t have to peel them – and roughly chop them up or blitz them in a blender. Wear gloves when handling the peppers (and don’t touch your face). If you don’t have fresh chillies to hand, use a tablespoon of chilli flakes or powder instead.

TIP the chopped vegetables into a one litre Kilner jar and top up with water. Then let the mixture steep, covered, overnight for garlic water, or up to a week for pepper spray.

STRAIN the liquid through muslin into a bowl, then stir in a tablespoon of soft soap. Decant the mixture into a bottle with a lid and label clearly. Use pepper spray neat, but dilute garlic sprays with 250ml to one litre of water. The taste can linger on vegetables, so stop spraying a few weeks before harvest time.