Our History

The journey begins -

The spark of the idea for the chilli patch originated in 2005 when I caught a tiny bit of a news item about The The South Devon Chilli Farm. The idea of growing beautiful plants then eating and selling their fruits was instantly appealing.
At the time I was teaching student homeopaths and running my homeopathic practice in Gateshead, Tyneside. Terry was running a B&B business from our home in Northumberland. Burnhead near Haltwhistle was literally on Hadrian´s Wall and built with stone from the wall. You can be sure of a warm welcome from its present owners.

The idea of moving to Spain to a finca where we would open a retreat had been simmering for quite a few years. In 2005 we took the decision to put our dream into action. I gave a year’s notice of my resignation from the homeopathy college and we began to look for an area of Spain where we could put down roots.
Then followed quite a few “coincidences” or maybe you prefer “synchronicities”. I was shopping in Hexham and happened to walk past a shop displaying kitchens. There on the wall of the kitchen in the window was a magnificent poster of chillis. I stopped in my tracks. I can’t remember the exact feelings at the time but thinking back it was like being shaken into remembering. A bit like when someone says “You’ve just broken my dream”. That was the “wake up” call, the spooky bit followed.

I’d bought a local newspaper The Hexham Courant and there in the classifieds was an advert for people to work on a chilli farm in Northumberland! Now is that spooky or what! I had no hesitation in phoning Dan who I referred to then and now as The Chilli Man. A few days later I went to see him at Trees Can't Dance, his business in Coanwood.
He’d already met another interested person called Beckie who has since become a main member of his team. Beckie had been intending to pursue the path of homeopathy and turned up at college to attend some “sample” classes. One of these was mine! The call of the chillis was stronger than the call to homeopathy so she never did enrol. Before we moved to Spain and just after she was incredibly helpful, organising chilli seed for me to try in Spain.

The South Devon Chilli Farm was my first inspiration and without having met me Steve and Jason have always responded to my questions related to chilli growing. I continue to enjoy their newsletter and web site.
Trees Can't Dance was inspiring as I was able to see poly tunnels of beautiful plants growing in a “difficult” environment. It was really exciting to walk around the site of Trees Can’t Dance and to listen to Dan talk about his vision. I will always be grateful that he gave some of his valuable time. Without knowing it, he was the beginning of the path to The Chilli Patch. I never did get to work for him but somehow I don’t think that was ever part of “the plan”.

And so to Spain, Andalucia, near Malaga in September 2006. Dan generously sent seed and I promised to send some sample chillis. Chillis grow well here, but I had a harsh lesson to learn. Planted in February I cosseted those seeds and seedlings. I labelled them well and charted when they showed their heads. I covered them with polythene each night to keep them cosy and sprayed them through the day to keep them cool.
One morning we went into the pueblo to collect our post. It was a bit cool so I left the seedlings snuggled under their polythene. We returned at mid day and the sun was beating down so I peeled the polythene from the trays to be surrounded by a cloud of steam. Peering through it I could see wilted bits of greenery. Our precious seedlings had been steamed! Imagine the feeling of devastation after weeks of carefully tending our precious crop. The following day I planted most of the seeds we’d been sent from Northumberland and brought them up in a harsh and neglectful way. This seems to be the hallmark of Spanish living in the campo. Not long afterwards I transplanted some very healthy Habanero, Jalapeno, Ring of Fire and Thai Dragon which produced wonderfully fiery chillis.

The Chilli Patch Today –

We have been inspected by CAAE (Comité Andaluz de Agricultura Ecológica)so that we are now in conversion for Organic Certification. Our operator number is 13212. We have been helped on our way by two lovely, supportive people who have joined our journey of “synchronicities”. Malcolm and Conny grow herbs at Cortijo Cornelio. Some time ago I received an email from them advertising their lavender. I meant to reply but time passed. I had little twinges as I was prodded to do something about their email. It felt important to contact “like minded” people who grow beautiful plants with as little intervention as possible and definitely without poisonous sprays! Somewhere along the way I lost their email.
Earlier this year I was at the computer and I decided to see if I could find this lavender farm. Thanks to Google, Cortijo Cornelio appeared and I sent an e mail. A phone call from a very enthusiastic Malcolm gave us the boost we needed to develop our patch. Cortijo Cornelio is now the hub of a thriving co-operative of organic growers.

Today we have what is literally a patch of chillis on our farm in Andalucia. This little patch produces so many chillis that even after making sauces and jams and using them in cooking we still have jars full of dried chillis and a freezer full of fresh chillis. Our next step will be to market them.

info@thechillipatch.com

Operator Number 13212 .