I have never seen such an event before in my life!

On Boxing Day 2020 (summer in the Southern Hemisphere), at around 3.40 pm, we experience the following hail storm that lasted for around five minutes. 

Initially I was in awe at the event, watching the hail stones bounce off the solar panels, but then I started to worry about the newly constructed (and not 100% completed) greenhouse and whether the roof had withstood the impact of the hundreds of little bullets that must have hit its poly-carbonate glazing! I was confident that the solar panels could withstand the battering but the greenhouse was another question! The hail was the largest that I had ever seen with it being physically painful to stand out in the open and be hit by it.

When the hail stopped and I ventured into the garden to my relief the greenhouse was fine however this was not the case for some of the vegetables! The impact of the hail on the different vegetables varied enormously with the corn having survived relatively unscathed due to its tougher leaves but the lettuce and squash had suffered the worse damage with there leaves looking as through they had passed through a shredder!

                        Lettuce                                                            Squash

The morning had been chilly but nothing exceptional and there was no warning from the meteorological office. Although it is not the first time that this has happened in our area it was the most severe Hail storm that anyone could remember. 

Three weeks Latter.

With the damage being so intensive to the squash and the lettuce it must have drastically set back their development however both had recovered well after three weeks with the squash, in particular, having grown profusely with some good sized fruit having been set.

Lettuce and Squash on the 21st of January (squash showing hail damage center bottom).

Conclusion.

Perhaps surprisingly, the lettuce and the squash (the worst affected plants) were able to weather the damage inflicted by the hail storm. Some of the lettuce have already been harvest and the squash have set some good fruit that will be harvested in a months time. 

So do not lose heart even when faced with unexpected and severe events. Keep gardening and keep learning:>)