Father and son farming duo Matthew and Liam Dennis are counting the cost of the damage to their vegetable crops as the floodwaters recede.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The farmers are now picking up the pieces after their second flood in just four months - and they have heard another La Nina season in spring is on the cards as well as a possible flood in November.
It's something they just don't want to think about - they've seen more than enough rain in the past six months.
They won't know the full cost of this flood for at least another week but they are determined to rebuild again.
When The Mercury spoke to them as the floodwaters were rising they were worried all of their vegetable crops would go under and it might even reach the house.
Thankfully the river stabilised in the days after that interview and their house, and some of the veggies were spared.
Walking around looking at what is left is a tough gig. It's disheartening to see the damage.
Vegetable crops that were submerged in the floodwaters have died. Those the flood didn't reach have still been hit hard - they just had too much water falling around them.
'"They don't like a lot of water like that, they are still wilting over and dying," Matthew said.
"We've had too much rain.
"It's a shame but what can you do, we will keep planting, we will keep farming as usual, it's what we do."
Matthew said they will have some produce to sell at the Slow Food Earth Market Maitland in The Levee on Thursday, July 21, but they might not be able to offer their weekly vegetable box as well.
They offered some of their customers a vegetable box this week but weren't able to make as many as usual.
"We might do a box here and there, but we will get to a point where we will run out of stuff," Matthew said.
More seedlings will arrive at the farm on Monday.
"As far as I'm concerned this season is lost, let's look forward to spring when we can have tomatoes and eggplants," Matthew said.
"We'll get these new seedlings in as soon as we can."
In other news:
- We are young and we are tired: stories from the frontline of Australia's home crisis
- Road to Gillieston Heights reopens
- How to register for flood waste assistance
- Take a sneak peek at Aldi's new wine bar
- Netball called off as council assesses damage
- Hat-trick in win to get Magpies' title hopes back on track
- Do you know you can subscribe to get full access to all Maitland Mercury stories? Subscribing supports us in our local news coverage. To subscribe, click here.