Friday 6 June 2014

Shredded Lettuce, anyone?

On Wednesday evening we had a terrific storm. Thunder and lightning, strong winds, deluges of rain and an amazing barrage of hail. Hail like I have seldom seen before - lashing down in violent flurries, almost like a sand-blaster, and settling in drifts like snow. And in the process shredding my plants! The only ones that escaped significant damage are the ones beneath nets and mesh. The others are all scarred, scuffed and riddled with holes.

Potato plant

One of my precious "Nosferatu" chillies

Hydrangea

Lettuce - full of "bullet-holes"

Unfortunately the plants most severely damaged are the chillies. :(
Chilli

But even slender targets like the pea-pods have not escaped damage.
Pea-pod

Every single leaf in the garden seems to be scuffed and scratched.
Broad Bean leaf

I hope that in most cases the damage will prove to have been superficial, and that the plants will survive, but I'm sure they are currently far from happy. We NEED a week of fine, calm, sunny weather to restore their health and morale!

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On a lighter note... This week Jane won a whole load of Black Puddings, from Chadwicks!


Actually, they are not all black. Some of them are white. And then there is this V-pud!


Vegetarian Black Pudding?! Whatever next?

16 comments:

  1. I am so sorry to hear it and know exactly how you feel. But, we cannot beat the nature, can we? These sudden storms really scare me because they became so violent with strong winds and hail. Some weeks ago we had some hail but we were on the edge of the storm and it did not do much damage.

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  2. During my rainy season, my plants in my garden look like yours. So many holes on the leaves, and then rotten. Too wet and warm.
    BTW, the black pudding looks so interesting. I have never seen and of course eaten it. Looks so delicious. You are so lucky, Jane

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  3. Sorry about the "hail" storm...I'm sure they will pull through! I love how your wife is always winning something! ...vegetarian black pudding :) By the way, what is black pudding?

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  4. Oh I hate hail storms. They really mess up those pretty leaves.

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  5. No hail storms here but there were some terrific ones in the West.

    Never heard of black pudding but will have to try it when we visit England in 10 days. We are walking the Cotswolds!

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    1. Yes, you'll probably be offered it with your breakfast. Do give it a try! I think you will like the Cotswolds. It is a lovely part of the country.

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  6. For those of you not familiar with Black Pudding it is a sort of boiled sausage made with blood as a major ingredient. The French call it "boudin noir". It tastes a lot nicer than it sounds! It is often flavoured with Fennel. It is a common element of the famous "Full English Breakfast".

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    1. In the past such sausage (but under the name "czarny salceson" -black brawn) was very popular in Poland. I used to eat it when I was a child - in fact I liked it, it was tasty. Then many people stopped eating such meat products in favour of chicken and beef. It was said that any offal products were eaten only by the poor - so if you ate salceson - you were obviously poor. Currently, I observe a coming back to eating many meat and offal products that were eaten in the past.

      I'm really sorry for your Nosferatu chilli - I have myself a few black leaved chillis and I would be mad as hell if something happened to them.

      I hope your plants will get better soon! :)

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    2. Yes, it's funny how some foods change their "status" - in Britain it wasn't that long ago that beef was considered cheap and chicken was a luxury that only rich people could afford. Likewise, oysters used to be Poor Mans' food.

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  7. Oh no! What a shame about the chillies. If it's any consolation, my chickens completely defoliated mine and they recovered beautifully in time. Perhaps yours will do the same?

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  8. Your description of the storm reminded me of my hometown. The storms were/are a regular feature in March and April. I hope your plants recover despite the damage. Although I have heard of black pudding, I have never tasted them. Would love to, some day. Congrats to Jane on her win!:)

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  9. So sad to see the damage Mark...just awful.
    Congrats to Jane though!

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  10. wow I have never seen that before must have been a hell of a storm

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  11. Vegetarian black pudding?? Really, I've seen it all now! We had hail here as well maybe that's what the holes in my lettuce are, I thought it was slugs. I've just come indoors (a rare event at the weekend) due to a horrendous thunderstorm which is probably headed your way!

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  12. Oh no! It is a rare thing for you to get such severe weather, when it does happen it seems that much more wrenching. I suspect they will all bounce back, though that doesn't make the current damage any less dramatic.

    Lovely blood puddings. Never see them here in the mainstream shops, but the ones favoured by the eastern Europeans you do see them.

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  13. Congrats to Jane on the win - well done.

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