A spring hailstorm went through Stevensville on Saturday and damaged local crops.
Cindy Smith-Putnam, who owns Bleeding Heart Flower Farm, says her flowers took a huge hit.
“I think this has been a really tough spring for growers from all kinds, even before the hail, it's been so wet, so cool, lasted so long, that all of us are probably somewhere two or three weeks behind what would be typical or ordinary for us, so add the hail, and it's kind of a double whammy,” said Smith-Putnam.
With a slight delay in product, Smith-Putnam is trying to see the bright side and stay positive.
"Typically, if you’re counting spring bulbs -- tulips daffodils and those things -- on the front end it's about a 20-week seasonal business for me, so there is a lot of the season still left, and I have a sign up in my studio that says, ‘Trust the field, trust the field,’” said Smith-Putnam.
Bleeding Heart Flower Farm wasn’t the only farm impacted by the hailstorm. Five Valleys Farm suffered damage to around 80% of their tomato plants. But they had some help getting back.
"What was super cool is another farm friend at County Rail, she had extra start, so I got up there, one of our farm helpers, Sara, transplanted all of our damaged tomatoes, and we're back on track, so we saw that loss, but we’re working hard to provide for our members today,” said Grace Burnham, the owner, operator at Five Valleys Farm.
Five Valleys Farm is a vegetable CSA, which means the community invests money into the farm to have them grow fresh vegetables. But despite the yields being down because of the storm, Burnham’s customers continue to show her support.
“I feel lucky to be supported by such an awesome community, and I even have members who have already messaged me and said, ‘Don't worry about us, take care of what you need to, if we skip a couple weeks its fine,’ so it's really the community that makes it great, and we're lucky to do what we do,” said Burnham.
Both farmers are thankful for the support they’ve received and assure their customers will still get great product, despite the setback.