Water, Water Everywhere

Things have settled down considerably around here, because the county drains did what they were supposed to do!

Here's a picture of the one that runs right in front of our house. While the drains did what they were supposed to do, there were a couple of days when they were completely overwhelmed.

During that time, our fields became holding ponds.

Some of the roads became holding ponds, too.

It's very important in floods like this to have some sort of plant matter (dead or alive--doesn't matter) in the fields. The plant cover helps to keep the valuable topsoil in place. We've worked hard to build up the soil, and we don't need it washing away.

Here's an aerial view of one of our fields with live plant cover. You can see the ditches we put in the field leading to a holding area. Ideally, the water from the fields drain directly into the county drains and these holding areas (also known as fields) don't have to stand full of water. But this was an unusual flood. Many of the area rivers achieved record heights, which flooded a record number of homes and businesses. Our hearts go out to those who have lost so much.