News

Sorry for this report being about a month late, but to be honest we have only just started to recover from what was easily the biggest day of our chilli career to date!

Held on September 11th, we were blessed with good weather and were rewarded with upward of 2000 visitors to our small farm on the outskirts of Bath.

The day was kicked off by the ever enthusiastic Matt Simpson of Simpson Seeds in Horningsham near Longleat, who delivered a fantastic talk on Chilli growing from within the captivating surroundings of our ancient Tithe Barn. This was coupled with chilli tastings that went on all day long using a method devised by Matt, allowing the taster to enjoy the flavours of the chllies without suffering too much of the burn!

At the same time, we had a number of stalls including our own Chilli Sauce stand with tastings, and a chilli art stall where kids were encouraged to paint chillies.

Along with the busy bar, we also had a BBQ where conventional foods were available as well as our very own Hot Sausage where each and every sausage contained at least one Orange Habanero.

Kids were having a great time on the bouncy castle and slide, whislt some of the adults had similar fun fighting each other in the Kangaroo Boxing suits!

The highlight of the day was the chilli eating contest, in which we had 22 starters and 8 finishers. The victims were asked to eat whole pods, and enjoyed a growing scale of heat starting at Hungarian Hot Waxes and moving on via various chillies including Jalapeno, Serrano, Turtle Claw, Pumpkin, Orange Habanero and Dorset Naga. Those who were still going were then given a spoonful of a ridiculously hot extract sauce (Da Bomb) and when all 8 were up for a second spoonful we decided to name them all winners! It is fair to say however that a few of the guys suffered considerably afterwards. The 2 lady winners however seemed to take it all in their stride!

Towards the end of the daytime event we were joined by the amazing Belly Dancers. Nasira from Portsmouth and her 2 fellow dancers captivated the crowds and after their performance it was time to shut shop for a few hours prior to the evening event.

The evening event was absolutely magical, with the belly dancers completing a fantastic performance using winged oufits. Our 3 live bands kept the crowds dancing until just before midnight when our local lads "Journey Up The Wood" played the last song of the event.

As the show grew to a close there was no doubt that everyone had had a fantastic day out and it is with absolute certainty that we will host the event again next year. Thanks for all those people who came and we look forward to seeing you all again for more chilli fun!

Uselful Resource : health and safety regulations by Veritas Consulting