Robert and I are in shock right now . . . Robert was harvesting furiously in the tornado warning and rain to bring in the vegetables we needed for the next several days of CSA deliveries because we know from experience that this much rain is not good for veggies. He brought the last load of veggies to the house and when we went back down, we could see the tractors needed to be moved to higher ground. We have lost everything in the gardens. Very possible some of our infrastructure as well such as the new fabric we were using for the first season and the drip pipes and connections and main lines.
Never in 28 years have we seen the water come up so far and so quickly. This is the definition of a FLASH FLOOD. We have had water get into the gardens closest to the creek before, but never all the way to the entrance gate! Had we know a flash flood was going to occur we would have harvested all day long and worried about where to store the vegetables later. So much was lost. This is terribly depressing. Our eggplant, bell peppers, cabbages and winter squash are now somewhere in Fletcher or beyond!
If you heard WLOS 13 News tonight, you heard that Brush Creek was flooded and that people in Fairview should be headed for high ground. Fortunately, our house sits atop a mountain! Our prayers go out to all of our neighbors residing along Cane Creek. If it was this high on our side, I know it was on their side where their homes are located.
Starting tomorrow, Wednesday, August 18 we will be sending out limited vegetable boxes. I am going to make the produce which we harvested last as long as possible. Eggplant, cabbages, carrots and peppers which have been picked this evening have a refrigerated shelf life. We harvested as many of the tomatoes as possible. Many of them are green or just turning, but we have a decent supply of these under shelter. We have been digging potatoes for the last several days and weeks, so this is another crop we have a decent supply of in shelter.
The boxes will be lighter and the contents will be diminished, but I if you will eat the above mentioned vegetables, we can manage to continue with the CSA a few weeks longer as we have a lot of potatoes!! We were hoping to sell boxes of potatoes in addition to our regular CSA boxes this season, but now it seems the potatoes will be our main stock.
Typically, we are able to prepare CSA Boxes through Halloween, often to Thanksgiving, and one year until Christmas! Never in the last 28 years of farming have we ever lost our entire crop! I don’t know what else to say. We will do our best to continue to communicate with you with regard to what you can expect from our CSA. Please communicate with us. If you intend to quit now, we want to know that; but we trust you will stick with us a bit long . . . going box by box if you feel you must.
Cane Creek Asparagus & Company CSA 