BRANDON, S.D. (KELO) — The cleanup is still underway in a number of local communities following last week’s flooding, but one Brandon business is just beginning to understand the water’s path of destruction.
Split Rock Creek is back near its banks, but the damage is done at Cherry Rock Farms in Brandon.
“We have some higher ground and some lower ground, some of the stuff was under water for a day or two, some was under the water for four days,” Cherry Rock Farms owner Marco Patzer said.
Marco Patzer says Cherry Rock Farms was on pace for a banner year. Now, the family is finding campers washed up on their property and bare ground where vegetables were once flourishing.
“We estimate that we lost probably 70% of our crops I would say,” Marco Patzer said.
But they’re not throwing in the towel on the summer.
“Some of the things are a short enough season type of a crop that we can replant and still get a crop, some of the longer season stuff like the watermelon and tomatoes, it’s getting a little bit too late to replant some of that stuff,” Marco Patzer said.
“We are focusing on succession planting right now, which is some of our crops that have shorter days so we’ll be able to get some things into the ground, some of the staples people have some to love,” Laura Patzer said.
Owner Laura Patzer says that includes sweet corn and pumpkins, and she plans to use this as a teaching opportunity for their kids.
“You go through all the emotions of grief, tears, loss, and then you come to a point where you just really have to focus on ‘how do we get through this, how do we show our kids that this is the hand we’re dealt and this is how we move forward,” Laura Patzer said.
The lone piece of good news, the water stopped short of the Patzers’ home, storefront, and greenhouses.
“We really didn’t have much for property damage or equipment damage, all of our buildings and our house and stuff, and of course our family and everybody is safe and well, so that’s the good thing,” Marco Patzer said.
Now, it’s time to go back to work.
“We’ve had setbacks like this before and we’ve come out of it, and we’ll just have to fight through this one again, and there’s always next season,” Marco Patzer said.
The Patzers hope to open Cherry Rock Farms later this month, a few weeks later than normal. The selection will be limited, but items like the tomatoes that were washed away will be replaced by the ones currently growing in the greenhouse.
