Community steps up after poison devastates thousands of plants at Oklahoma farm
The community has stepped up to help after poison devastated thousands of plants at an Oklahoma farm. The farmers were left feeling helpless
By Alyse Jones
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JONES, Oklahoma (KOCO) — The community has stepped up to help after poison devastated thousands of plants at an Oklahoma farm.
The farmers were left feeling helpless, but in the midst of the devastation, the community has helped them stay on their feet and keep their doors open. On Monday, Ruzycki Farms said volunteers came out and helped them continue the clean-up process.
The owners said the Oklahoma Standard has been evident, and they have no doubts it’ll continue.
“We’re going to link arms and keep the ship floating,” said Michael Ruzycki, the owner.
The farm is looking to stay afloat, asking volunteers to come out from 5-8 p.m. on Monday as they look to clean up what they lost.
“Over the last week, the rains have come, and the little weeds I’m normally managing and plucking out have since grown and they’re starting to kind of take over. I’ve got years of effort that I’ve put into this place to try to keep it weed-free and just mainly vegetable production. It’s really sad to see it in the state it’s in right now,” Ruzycki said.
Now, they hope to have some extra hands to pull plants and weeds and prepare the grounds for new seeds that they hope can be ready by the next harvest. While they might’ve lost thousands of plants, they said the response from the community has been overwhelming.
“We’ve had quite a few tomato plants from local growers dropped off, Earls dropped off a huge load of some specialty tomato plants that are going to be quickly producing, so we’re hoping to get a quick turnaround on those,” Ruzycki said.
They’ve received donations, as well as local farmers digging and getting in the dirt.
“I’ve had other local growers drop off their excess. They’ve been a great hand on the farm the last couple of days, helping us in different areas,” Ruzycki said.
Now, they said anyone who wants to help is welcome as they look to get back to the best condition and serve customers as soon as possible.
“We’ve got people that would rather spend time in the dirt and helping pull some weeds and that manner. We’ve also got some people that not so much the sun and the sweat isn’t for them, so they’re monetarily giving what they can,” Ruzycki said.
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