The storm that set all-time record low pressures in the midwest set some all-time records for destruction at the farm. It certainly caused some consternation at our house in the wee hours of the morning, so we figured it had probably done the same out at the farm. But we were surprised by just how bad it was.
In preparation for the forecast freeze last night, we had spent a few hours covering the majority of our Thanksgiving crops to protect them. We know how windy it gets around here, so over the last couple of days we had taken extra measures to secure the covering. It was all in vain.
The scene above is what greeted us when we finally got out to survey the damage. The sandbags had done their job; they had all stayed in place, holding the edges of the fabric securely. However, the winds were just too strong for the fabric itself, which was literally shredded into a million pieces. We spent a good hour walking the fields to the east, picking up tiny fragments. The wind was so strong that it blew many of our harvest bins away, turned our 4′ x 8′ trailer around 180 degrees, and deposited the wash sinks in the middle of the vegetables (note the white sink in the photo below).
In the picture above, you can see how the wind even upended many of the hoops, which are 1/2″ steel conduit. They were sunk into the ground a good 10″, and reinforced across the top with baling twine that was tied off at each hoop and then tied to a rebar stake at each end. The yellow things are the sandbags that had been holding the fabric down. Underneath every bag is a piece of the cover that ripped away. We used Agribon 19. Note the kohlrabi to the left; can you tell which way the wind was blowing?
The wind even tore a large chunk off the hoop house roof.
Here’s the view from the inside:
The crops took a beating once the row cover was off. The lettuce transplants suffered frost damage, and all the plants looked very bedraggled, like they had tried very hard to resist an unwelcome trip to Kansas. The ground was littered with broccoli and cabbage leaves that had been snapped off, and the poor leeks got an unexpected haircut:
Because the wind continued to blow all day, we didn’t even attempt to repair the damage and re-cover things. It’s frustrating. Doubly so because the crops are all uncovered now, and tonight’s supposed to be the really cold one, with a low in the mid 20’s. Our field is always several degrees colder than the forecast, so we’re assuming it will get down into the low 20’s. After their tough day, it will be interesting to see how the plants fare.
We were hoping to be able to offer a nice Thanksgiving produce box, but that’s now in question. We’ll just have to wait and see if things recover. Such is the gamble with autumn weather, I suppose.
