Hail just devestated our veggie garden...

littlelady

God bless the USA
Oops! I misspelled 'devastated'. Anyway...

:frown: Many of the plants are smooshed/bent/crushed. This is our first year to have a veggie garden. Are the plants dunskies, or will they come back? For instance, the white kale and lettuce were doing great but now the stalks/leaves are all broken/smooshed into the dirt. If we harvest tomorrow before the leaves die, will the plants come back. I don't know if what was there was mature enough to eat yet. New at this, and will do some research, but just thought I would see if any members on the forum are garden experts. :smile:

We have herbs such as oregano, thyme, cilantro, parsley, chive. Also, lettuce varieties, kale, tomato, peppers, garlic, hot peppers, green beans, carrots, spinach, zucchini, and more. Thanks!
 
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Chris0nllyn

Well-Known Member
It will come back. Especially the lettuce/kale/ and other cold weather plants. The tomatos, zucc., peppers and all are still small and early in their growth (should be at least) so they may look a bit ragged now, but should be fine also as long as there are some leaves still on the plant.
 

itsbob

I bowl overhand
We were headed to Waldorf for a baseball game and got caught in the worst of it.. worst hail I've seen since I lived in KY.. I was worried about the hail damage to the car, but I was more worried about the hail being a harbinger of what was next. In KY hail was a sign to head to the tornado ditch.

I don't remember the last time a storm actually made me pullover to the breakdown lane and stop but yesterday that happened twice, and still morons out there not turning their lights on, of do Kia Soul's NOT have lights??

Luckily we were in the rough and tough Outback so no hail damage that we could see this morning, but even luckier my PickUp was at home where the storm passed well North of us.. no hail at all.
 

littlelady

God bless the USA
It will come back. Especially the lettuce/kale/ and other cold weather plants. The tomatos, zucc., peppers and all are still small and early in their growth (should be at least) so they may look a bit ragged now, but should be fine also as long as there are some leaves still on the plant.

Thanks for the encouraging words. The kale stalks were broken, so we picked the damaged ones and made kale chips. Turned out quite tasty. We used the broken lettuce leaves for a salad tonight. It was amazing to see how quickly the plants are bouncing back. We didn't know what to expect. The spinach I was growing from seed in some pots were so tiny that they got destroyed, so will plant more seeds. Hub and I were talking about, and now understand how devastating it is to farmers when their crops get destroyed by hail, bugs, or other acts of nature; it is their livelihood. Now, I have to start protecting the garden from deer, rabbits, and squirrels! It is a raised bed contained by railroad ties. It was here when we moved. It is a lot of work; it is a 6' x 20' foot bed. We are enjoying it.
 

littlelady

God bless the USA
We were headed to Waldorf for a baseball game and got caught in the worst of it.. worst hail I've seen since I lived in KY.. I was worried about the hail damage to the car, but I was more worried about the hail being a harbinger of what was next. In KY hail was a sign to head to the tornado ditch.

I don't remember the last time a storm actually made me pullover to the breakdown lane and stop but yesterday that happened twice, and still morons out there not turning their lights on, of do Kia Soul's NOT have lights??

Luckily we were in the rough and tough Outback so no hail damage that we could see this morning, but even luckier my PickUp was at home where the storm passed well North of us.. no hail at all.

That storm was quite unnerving here in Olney; the lightening was intense, and we lost power. The hail was bouncing of the deck and hitting the French doors along the back of the house. I was sure they would be cracked, but nope. That must have been so scary driving in it. Glad y'all are ok. The weather alerts did say there could be a chance of tornadoes.

My pansies and hostas also took a beating. But, as Chris said it will all come back. It is just that we have worked so hard on our new yard. Oh well. We all lived through it, and that is what counts. :smile:
 
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Chris0nllyn

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the encouraging words. The kale stalks were broken, so we picked the damaged ones and made kale chips. Turned out quite tasty. We used the broken lettuce leaves for a salad tonight. It was amazing to see how quickly the plants are bouncing back. We didn't know what to expect. The spinach I was growing from seed in some pots were so tiny that they got destroyed, so will plant more seeds. Hub and I were talking about, and now understand how devastating it is to farmers when their crops get destroyed by hail, bugs, or other acts of nature; it is their livelihood. Now, I have to start protecting the garden from deer, rabbits, and squirrels! It is a raised bed contained by railroad ties. It was here when we moved. It is a lot of work; it is a 6' x 20' foot bed. We are enjoying it.

For raided beds, building a screen is easy enough. Put some 1" pvc pipe in the dirt up against the outter boards/ rr ties and bend 1/2" pvc into a half moon shape and place each end of the 1/2" into the 1". Cover it all with screen (or plastic for a mini greenhouse for starting plants earlier).

Typically, railroad ties are frowned upon for making raised beds. They are treated with creosote and that can leach into the soil. If they are old, it may not be an issue at this point.
 

littlelady

God bless the USA
For raided beds, building a screen is easy enough. Put some 1" pvc pipe in the dirt up against the outter boards/ rr ties and bend 1/2" pvc into a half moon shape and place each end of the 1/2" into the 1". Cover it all with screen (or plastic for a mini greenhouse for starting plants earlier).

Typically, railroad ties are frowned upon for making raised beds. They are treated with creosote and that can leach into the soil. If they are old, it may not be an issue at this point.


Thanks, Chris. Good info. House was built in 1970, and I don't know how old the raised bed is, but am assuming fairly old. Most of the plants in our garden were bought from a nursery; fairly expensive. We were wanting to start everything from seed next year, and thought we had to start inside with grow lights. Your suggestion of a make shift green house is great. Thanks, again.

I can't sleep. I was just thinking that the house I live in now was built when I was 15 years old. Thought it was funny. :lol:
 
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littlelady

God bless the USA
The garden did come back, even though there was some loss. We just had our first salad tonight picked only from the garden...arugula, green and red leaf lettuce, cilantro, parsley, and chives. I added grated carrots because our carrots aren't ready
yet, and 5 cheese shred with Greek dressing. Also, I made my first batch of kale chips. Woo hoo! Never underestimate Mother Nature. She gets mad, but then she fixes it! :yahoo:
 
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