The Ockawamack Creek flowed over it's banks and through the fields in ways that it has never flowed before.
The wheat is just barely above water here...some of it is now covered in silt and laying down flat...we have never combined compromised wheat like this...if we can get some dry days we will have to see what we can get off these seedings.
As the town of Claverack declared a state of emergency, our fields were filling and draining having soil removed and also deposited...while the rain continued.The aftermath of flooding is not only soil erosion, but soil/silt deposits. Sometimes not a bad thing ...unless it is on top of a crop you are hoping to harvest.
Below you can see some very unhappy rows of soybeans, mesclun and arugula, swiss chard and beets...they are now known as the lost plantings....
Our five acre field has been fallow this summer being harrowed to kill weeds. It is always risky to leave a field open to the elements and it is the exception rather than the rule for us to not seed down open ground fairly quickly to protect it from erosion....hopefully we did not lose too much soil to the stream
Standing water has now been in the celery and celeriac for a few days...we will see how they survive.
Deep mud at the ends of the winter squash rows.
We have never seen water up this high....to the left is one of two entrances into our lower field, this bridge/water had to be crossed to harvest the potatoes for our end of the week deliveries.
Fortunately our new greenhouse did not float down stream.....there is normally about 50 feet between the stream and our greenhouse.
Fortunately less than 1/3 of our vegetable ground is in these lower fields. Only the fields pictured had standing and running water, all of our other fields are well drained and we are thankful for the diversity of terrain here on our farm. Though everything is water logged, the other crops are hanging in there and waiting for the summer sun and warmth to come. 