Dealing with crops affected by flood water

[jonahjonah]

Hi all,

While we were on holiday, the flooding that affected parts of the West Mids apparently hit our plot. We are lucky that our house was fine and my sympathy goes out to those who were not so lucky.

The council recommended that all crops that came into contact with the flood water that are intended to be eaten raw should be destroyed and that those that are planted in the soil after the flood need at least a six month growing period before they're safe to eat raw. We weren't here to see which plants were affected. The water included some from the ditch around the site, the road, and rainwater.

I'm wondering if this is the usual advice and if it's necessary (or, on the flipside, sufficient).

The salads are a lost cause (mostly slug food at this point anyway) but we have lots of happy green strawberries at the moment. Am I safest just findings ways to cook what I really want to eat (e.g. strawberry jam)?

Also, will this affect how well and the manner in which some foods should be stored (e.g. garlic, shallots, potatoes)?

I am a fairly paranoid sort, so I won't take any silly chances. I'm just looking for a second opinion. This is one gardening setback I did not anticipate.

Thanks!

[nickdub]

I doubt you'll go with my thoughts, as I'll eat more or less anything as long as it tastes OK. If I was a bit closer I'd offer to come and be a taster for your strawberries :-)

[Nicos]

Have a look at this....
http://parishes.lincolnshire.gov.uk/...allotment1.pdf

Doesn't specifically answer your questions about what is 'safe'

I suppose it depends on where your plot is in relation to houses, factories, farms etc....and what pollutants there may be lurking.

Sorry you have experienced this.
Was it actual widespread flooding or a rise locally in water table? The latter would be of less concern.

[Jay-ell]

The reason for that advice may be that although you say that it was flooded with water from the ditch, site, road and rainwater and drains underneath the road and any sewers in the vicinity could have been flushed or partially flushed out. It wouldn't have to be a total flood of sewage, just some of it mixed into the flood water to make people worry.

You can probably guess what nasties would be in that mix of water and decide if you wanted to eat that raw.

[SarrissUK]

Yeah, I'm normally a risk taker and would eat most things, but when sewage is possibly in the mix, I'd steer well clear and take no risks.

[Aberdeenplotter]

I'm with Sariss and Jayell on this if theres a possibility of pollution from sewage.

[jonahjonah]

I hadn't thought about the potential of sewage in the mix. It was a couple of weeks ago when we had a lot of rain that led to flooding in Birmingham and other areas. The assessment of ditch/road/rainwater was from our allotment secretary who was in town. It's in a neighborhood - houses and a high school back onto the site. I will probably err on the side of caution (unless I can get nickdub to take receipt of potentially disgusting strawberries in a canary-in-the-coal-mine capacity). I'm already terrified of botulism, so I'll have to make a high-temp fridge or freezer jam. Maybe I'm not cut out for this gyo business...although I have been avoiding fruit recently because I can't bear the food miles on most of it. Too bad I didn't split my berries between home and plot!

[Earthgirl Jen]

I'm so sorry this has happened to you, I'm sure I would be quite devastated if it had happened to me. We all know how much hard work goes into growing our own.

It's not much help and you must do what feels right for your own plot. But a lovely chap I watch on youtube just went through this very thing, 50 years gardening experience, I am in no way affiliated with him, just like his casual manner and all the helpful advice he gives.
His son-in-law is an Agronomist and he got him to come and look at his veg...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bn_3wjkaQt8

The flood lasted 20hours before it drained and it seems there is quite a lot of his veg that he can still keep.

Check his video before this one and you can see just how fast and high the water rose in his garden...

At the end of the day it's your choice and if I lived closer I'd be there like a shot to help you x

[Jay-ell]

You can look at growing Strawberries in raised containers if floods are going to be an annual event.

Of course I'm not saying that sewage would definitely be in the flood water but until you know better it's better to be safe than sorry.

[veggiechicken]

Sorry about all this Jonah.
Does your site have a history of flooding, do you know?
I'm not sure how I'd feel about eating the crops actually. We fertilise our plots with animal manure and we have no idea what has passed through the animals first - or whether they were diseased or had been treated with drugs. Nor do we know whether a wild animal - fox, badger, etc - has visited our plot and left its mark.

Maybe taking sensible precautions about washing the produce would work for me.

[jonahjonah]

Thanks, everyone. I'm looking at the resources you're sending and I really appreciate the kind words. I think the flooding was quite unexpected. My fellow plot holders have been very helpful with guidance and it never came up before this. The nearby flooding in town was also quite a shock, so I expect it's an unusual or new phenomenon.

The council reckons that anything that will be cooked will be ok to eat. Nothing really seems to have suffered flood damage (that's all down to the slugs). I feel a little stomach flop at the idea of eating sewage potatoes, but realistically the cooking temp should eliminate anything problematic. I haven't had a chance to chat with anyone about the actual extent of the damage or their plans for coping. Unfortunately I'm at the bottom of the site next to the ditch (site is a long-ago river bed), so I expect we've had the worst of it. However, the plastic watering can and the black plastic sheeting didn't get displaced as far as I can see, so I'll be interested to know how bad it was.

Thanks for pondering this with me. I think I'm feeling disproportionately sad about my strawberries.

[mothhawk]

When I used to pick wild grown watercress years ago (haven't seen any now for yonks), I'd wash it in Miltons sterilising fluid if I wasn't sure of the quality of the water I got it from.

[Baldy]

^^^ sounds delicious - might have to ask for that with the ketchup when I get fish n chips tomorrow

[jonahjonah]

Had a chat with some of the fellow plot holders today. They are quite confident that the flooding was essentially rainwater and runoff from the plots. We picked some of my beloved strawberries today. Wish me luck.

[veggiechicken]

You don't need luck - the strawberries will be delicious.