2011 had all the appearances of a bumper year in Rotherhithe. A record number of chilis were present on the roof of the Sausage Factory when the hailstorm struck.
Saturday, 11 June 2011
Chili devastation 4
Leaves and blossoms were ripped from their stems as the great hailstorm of 2011 swept across the roof of the Sausage Factory
Chili devastation 3
2006 Vintage Port, heard of it? You won't have, as freak hailstorms decimated the crop in the Douro Valley in September of that year. Now it appears that 2011 Rotherhithe chilis may be another great lost vintage
Chili devastation 2
This year will live in infamy for lovers of fine wine and good chilis. The vineyards of Sauternes were destroyed by hailstorms in April; in June it was Rotherhithe's turn
Chili devastation1
Eight years after Bollinger lost their entire 2003 vintage to a hailstorm the Rotherhithe Sausage Factory chili crop was similarly devastated
Hail! Hail!
The great hail shower of 10th June 2011 has caused devastation. Fully thirty plants have now been fully hardened off and potted up. The first chilis are moving rapidly towards ripe maturity. Even the twelve spindly weakest chilis, most of which are from older seeds, are being hardened off. On our return from Nandos yesterday evening we discovered that the plants had been pounded by a hailstorm. A coating about an inch thick lay on each of the pots. The Habaneros apprear to have suffered most, losing about a third of their leaves and suffering damage to almost all those that remain. The Tepins also suffered badly. Some of the spindly twelve lost most of their leaves.
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