More tips for flooded gardens:
•After soil dries, cultivate to break up crust and allow oxygen into the soil.
•Remove contaminated or killed plants.
•Fill in gaps with warm-season summer cover crops such as buckwheat or cow- peas. Or in late summer or early fall plant overwintering cover crops such as rye.
•Plant cool-season crops for fall harvest, such as brocolli and greens.
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Probably not.
Here's an excerpt from Safe Handling of Fruits and Vegetables, a factsheet from Ohio State University.
Question:
It seems like every year, just as my garden is ready for picking, we have a flood. Can I still use this food?
Answer:
- If flood waters have covered a garden, most produce will be unsafe to eat. The safety of unharvested fruits and vegetables will depend on:
- Kind of produce
- Maturity of produce at the time of flooding
- Time of year flooding occurred
- Severity of flooding (depth of water and silt)
- Duration of flooding
- Bacterial content of floodwater
- Likelihood of contamination from sewage or other bacterial contaminants
- In general, fruits and vegetables that were immature at the time of flooding should be safe to eat by the time they are ready to harvest. For additional safety, wash thoroughly and cook it before eating.
- Unless flooding was light and there is no danger of bacterial contamination from floodwater, do not use fruits and vegetables that were ready for harvest at the time of flooding. Some fruits and vegetables are more susceptible than others to bacterial contamination.
- Leafy vegetables (such as lettuce, cabbage, mustard, kale, collards, spinach, Swiss chard, and celery), fleshy vegetables (such as tomatoes, summer squash, and peppers), and berry fruits (such as strawberries) are highly susceptible to bacterial contamination. Silt and other contaminants may be imbedded in the leaves, petioles, stems, or other natural openings of fleshy structures and can be difficult to remove. Do not use if mature when flooded.
- Root, bulb, and tuber crops such as beets, carrots, radishes, turnips, onions, and potatoes are less susceptible to bacterial contamination. Disinfect these vegetables (see #4 below), and peel and cook them thoroughly before eating.
- Produce with a protected fruit or impervious outer skin such as peas, melons, eggplant, sweet corn, or winter squash should be washed and disinfected before the outer shell skin or husk is removed. Then shell, peel, or husk the produce and cook before eating.
- Thoroughly wash and disinfect produce before eating.
- Wash in clean, potable water with a scrub brush. Remove all silt.
- Immerse produce for 15 to 20 minutes in a weak chlorine solution. Household bleaches contain from 2 to 6 percent chlorine. The amount of bleach to add to water depends on the percentage of chlorine it contains:
- 2 percent chlorine: use 3/4 tablespoon per quart
- 4 percent chlorine: use 1 teaspoon per quart
- 6 percent chlorine: use 1/2 teaspoon per quart
- Rinse thoroughly with safe drinking water.
- Peel if possible and cook thoroughly before eating.
- Refer any specific questions to health authorities or your county Extension agent.
© Copyright, Department of Horticulture, Cornell University.
Website design: Craig Cramer cdc25@cornell.edu
Mention of trade names and commercial products is for educational purposes; no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by Cornell Cooperative Extension or Cornell University is implied. Pesticide recommendations are for informational purposes only and manufacturers' recommendations change. Read the manufacturers' instructions carefully before use. Cornell Cooperative Extension and Cornell University assumes no responsibility for the use of any pesticide or chemicals. Some of the links provided are not maintained by Cornell Cooperative Extension and Cornell University. Cornell Cooperative Extension and Cornell University are not responsible for information on these websites. They are included for information purposes only and no endorsement by Cornell Cooperative Extension or Cornell University is implied. Cornell Cooperative Extension provides equal program and employment opportunities.
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