Ferocious Hail Storm

Our garden is trashed.

Shortly after we arrived at our farm on Friday, the skies darkened and our hill was pelted with hail.  Usually a hail storm only lasts a few minutes, and these were really big hailstones, so I ran for my camera.  Turns out that I didn’t have to run.  There was wave after wave of hail, followed by torrential rain.  I began to wonder whether the Rapture people were right after all – that the end of the world had arrived!!

You can see the hailstones bouncing around.  The plants in the pots are being pummeled.  They are REALLY big hailstones!  The storm lasted about 45 minutes.  It seemed like a lifetime.  When my husband and I walked around to survey the damage, the grass crunched under our feet.  The asparagus in the vegetable garden looked fringed on top.  Any late tulips were history.  The leaves of the large maple tree overlooking the patio are now all over the patio.  Bits of leaves were glued to our windows.

Look at the size of these hailstones!

The hail was deepest on the patio and on the soil and mulch in the garden.

In some places, the runoff was like a river.  There are piles of mulch, soil and debris all over our lawn.

The oddest thing is that a mere mile from us, there was a little hail and no damage.  Mother Nature can be very arbitrary.  As we bemoaned the fact that we had just planted giant zinnias and other annuals grown from seed, all destroyed, I had one thought.  In the Midwest, people were looking at their HOMES totally destroyed.  We were looking at plants.  You can replant flowers and foliage.    Maybe it wasn’t such a calamity after all.

Triploid Grass Carp to the Rescue

Our pond, although supplied with fresh water from 5 underground streams, has become unpleasantly filled with vegetation each summer.  My friend Maria mentioned that triploid grass carp could clean it up.  So we applied for a license and the local authorities inspected our pond.   These fish are supposed to be sterile, but the fish and game people have to be sure that there is no overflow into another body of water JUST IN CASE they somehow reproduce.  Last Saturday we picked up the 4 carp that we were assigned as the correct number to eat the greenery in our pond.

The carp were waiting for us at White Oak Farm in Hillsdale, NY, relaxing in a large, aerated container.

Meanwhile,  Fred Laing, who is tremendously knowledgeable about these and other fish matters filled our 2 picnic coolers with water and gave us instructions on transporting and handling the fish.

Then he netted our fish and put two into each cooler.  The fish didn’t seem to mind.

We got large carp so that they wouldn’t be bothered by the large-mouth bass that have turned up on the pond, carried in as eggs on bird feathers.

We drove straight to the farm and gently dumped them all in.

Each one paused, got its bearings, and swam away.

I hope they live and prosper!