Yesterday at about 4 pm the skies opened up and hail the size of golf balls came down. It was so sudden. I went out with an umbrella and started covering as many plants as I could with 5 gallon buckets and other buckets. The ice cream bucket failed and that broccoli has damage. I missed a couple. Still managed to save the more than I lost. We had tornado warnings and for the 4th time since I have lived here it smelled and looked of tornado. The action happened after it came through here. We thought we were through the worst of it, when my hubby checked the basement one more time. Water. We have been working ever since. It seems the ground was so full, the water came through the basement windows. We are expecting more action today. Hubby has a plan... construction grade plastic and sandbags. I am dragging my feet and I still have to go out and figure out how to cover all the plants. You know what I need. Thank you!

Oh! I am so sorry to read all of this Chris, I'll certainly pray for fine weather and that you can get the basement all cleaned up. Good luck with all of your produce too, I love Broccoli. Love Chris

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by cfidl 27 Jun 2015

Thank you Chris, I am working on it. the garden has been hit with extra bugs so I am out there doing what I can. I am hoping to make sauce and salsa this harvest. I still have to transplant some herbs they are out of growing space.

Oh my!! You have my prayers!! I thought that this year for us has been the year from Hell....I guess we are not alone. Pumping the basement water and mopping for 5 days and nights in shifts... exhausting! They say that trouble shared is trouble halved...I think that this is true. We are in B.C. and at the moment we are having 30+ degrees.. not to my liking either. I will be thinking of you and sending prayers. Rest when you can.
Lots of hugs ((( ))) , Nadyne

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by cfidl 27 Jun 2015

It is starting to smell of mildew and need to step it up today. I am having a little trouble resting, and the whole house is now a nightmare again. ugh!

So sorry to hear about the devastation from the horrible weather we had. Please let me know if we can help when it comes time for harvest.

I have lots of seeds if you'd like to try again.

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by cfidl 27 Jun 2015

Thank you for the offer. I tend to want to take you up on that for the biggest reason, seed sharing is part of our heritage and no government should be able to take that away from us.

by guruofgardens 27 Jun 2015

Great! Just give me a place and date. I'm going to try a bit of winter sowing - broccoli anyway - starting seeds soon.

by cfidl 27 Jun 2015

Tell me where you are, please.

by guruofgardens 28 Jun 2015

Lakewood - west of Kipling and Jewell

So sorry your crop is lost.

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by cfidl 26 Jun 2015

I was just out there and it looks sad for sure. I still have the small peppers and tomatoes, just not as many plants now.

So sorry Christine, wish I was there to help.

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by cfidl 26 Jun 2015

me too, I can't do basement today, boys are still down there.

I was intrigued by your mention of walking onions because I have never heard of such a plant, so of course I had to "google' it. I believe I have seen these but did not know what they were called. This site is just a barrel of information, isn't it?

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by cfidl 26 Jun 2015

It is fun!

I am hurtin' for certain today. Found lots of muscles not used in normal daily living. Lol! ; )

Yikes...glad you were not hurt...forget the plants, take care of yourself...

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by cfidl 26 Jun 2015

I can't, I started them from seed and I have kept them alive since January.

Hail can be so terribly scary, not to mention the damage it can do. I once was driving in Johannesburg with my aunt who was visiting from England when "eggs" started raining down on us. I was so scared and quickly got us under a tree. My aunt was in tears she was so frightened. The hail only lasted about two or three minutes and no damage was done to my car. Thank goodness we do no get hail where I live now. I hope that your plants will soon recover. Hugs Sarah

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by cfidl 26 Jun 2015

Thank you Sarah, unfortunately a few of them probably need to be replaced. I still have time to do that. I am so glad there was no damage to the car.

Prayers going up. However, save your head, not broccoli. Even small hail can knock you out and then it won't matter how the garden comes in! Sorry about the basement.

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by cfidl 26 Jun 2015

You are so correct. Yesterday It was so bad I used vocalization to push me through the worst of the storm, as I was out there by myself I had to do it. I matched the intensity and yet probably no one would not have heard me.

You poor thing! I'm glad you managed to save some plants, and now to conquer the water. I've been to Denver a couple of times. I very much enjoyed my time there.

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by cfidl 25 Jun 2015

It boasts over 300 days of sunshine a year, except the years we have 6 months of monsoon. Lol! We are at 3 months now.

Sorry about the water problem but at least you saved some. of your garden. Here in Alabama we have awful Tornadoes that leave nothing behind but rubbish. My little home is sandwiched in between a couple of small mountains and they usually just go over the mountains. If one ever comes down it will just bounce back and forth between, so everyone prays, some have shelters , there is no local shelter in this area, so people worry. We go to my G. daughters when they say one is getting near, they're basement has a built in shelter, very few times we have ever had to go. I'VE seen entire towns wiped out so it's best to beware of Tornadoes/Lillian

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by cfidl 25 Jun 2015

Yes, thankfully tonight had only a short hail. Just long enough for me to put the buckets on, and then have to take them off an hour later. I think I am done for now. Yeah!

The weather can be a fierce factor of one's life, but don't forget to find the beauty in it too.
We had hail so prolific here one evening that it looked like it had snowed.
Amazingly there was little water damage as there had been so much hail that people had to sweep the hail from their roofs.
My son is in the emergency services and they had to go to the hardware store to buy up on brooms as they only had one in each truck and they needed one per serson. No tarps were needed.
I was wondering what was 'wrong' with him when he told me that they needed brooms not tarps for the roof jobs. But it was me not seeing what he was dealing with. :-)
Be adaptable as people can be and you will weather the storms.
Maybe you need to think of putting in some ag pipes once the land is dry again. Good luck.

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by cfidl 25 Jun 2015

Hubby wants new windows. I had built a short curb like wall to stop my neighbors water from flooding me. We have a french drain on that side also. The third one is where I want an egress window to meet code, so you never know.

Where do you live that you are getting this severe weather? I always worry about hail damaging my car because I don't have a garage.

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by cfidl 25 Jun 2015

I am in Denver, on the side of town where these storms first hit the front range. These come in from the west, they build over the mountains and then let loose.

by pacmp 25 Jun 2015

I remember once visiting Denver in the early 70's think it was 1972 and while we were there, they had a huge flash flood hit and the streets were all 3 foot deep with water, people canoeing down the roads. It was really bad up the canyon from what I remember. Hopefully nothing like that this time. Keep yourself out of harms way and hope you have saved most of the plants. Don't forget to check on any of the shut ins that you know of to be sure they are OK. Pam

by cfidl 25 Jun 2015

Thank goodness not 3 feet of water... the Platt is the highest I have ever seen it. There were 4 cars found in the river. 1 was up side down. All four one hill over from my house. Last week the block northeast flooded. Tomorrow is another day of cleanup. I have found treasures though.

by queenofhearts 25 Jun 2015

In 2007 we got 17 inches of rain in a 24 hour period. The water in my back yard was 7 feet deep, 3 feet deep on the main floor.
Without going into details it was a storm that totally changed my life forever.

by cfidl 26 Jun 2015

That is too much water and I can understand it having terrific affect on you.

The power of nature always amazes me!!! Hopefully some of your plants will revive themselves in a few days. God bless - in my prayers.

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by cfidl 25 Jun 2015

Thank you. I already had to transplant my new walking onion plants. They should be happy now.