Hurricane Irene swept across New Jersey on August 28, 2011, becoming the first hurricane to make landfall in the state since 1903. The winds of Irene – a Category 1 storm – were not as strong as originally feared, but she dumped 6 inches of rain onto the already saturated soils of the Pleasant Valley. August 2011 will go down in history as the wettest month ever recorded in New Jersey, shattering the previous record.

Flash floods inundated Howell Living History Farm on Sunday, seeping all the way into the farm’s visitor center lobby. Farmer Gary Houghton says it’s the worst flooding he’s seen at the farm in his 30 years here. Elsewhere in the drenched state, flooded rivers have set many all-time records for high watermarks.

Power was restored to the farm at 8:45 a.m. on Tuesday morning. The farm’s a mess, but thankfully none of the storm damage is severe. All the animals are safe, and no buildings or structures were hit with fallen trees. The water damage in the visitor center appears to be relatively minor.

Nonetheless, the flash floods have churned up the parking lot, washed away fences, and deposited silt and rocks over several of the farm fields. The Howell Farm mailbox on Hunter Road, which sits about four feet high, was discovered filled with mud. Branches and debris sit atop the bridge over Moore’s Creek.

The farm was closed today, and cleanup is underway.

View the slideshow below to see some photos of the storm damage.

The biggest news at Howell Farm this week is the impending arrival of Hurricane Irene, which is expected to dump rain on New Jersey Saturday night and Sunday. The latest forecasts show the storm tracking west, directly toward New Jersey. (But it's still days away and could change course.)

According the New Jersey state climatologist, the state has already received twice the normal amount of rain this August, and some places have received three times the amount of normal rain. So this is a storm we definitely don't need.

In prepartion, Intern Jake harvested all the cabbages in the kitchen garden.

Today's potato harvest at Howell Farm drew dozens of volunteers, all digging potatoes to be donated to the Greater Mercer Food Cooperative. See some photos of harvesting action in the slideshow below. (Video and a short article still to come.)

When I blogged last week, Howell Farm was getting some much needed rain. But since then, it’s just kept raining. Central Jersey received 5 inches of rain over the weekend, and then another half inch on Monday. With precipitation this summer, it’s been either feast or famine.

“Dry Run Creek” continues to defy its namesake and is flowing steadily.

Out in the cornfield, the largest stalks of feed corn are now taller than two men put together. But that hasn’t stopped the deer from invading the field and eating what they can. Today, Farmer Rob and the interns spent some time preparing to cordon off the field with an electric fence.

In the orchard, the apples are ready for plucking. The peaches aren't ready quite yet, but they're well on their way.

Coming up soon at Howell Farm is one of the biggest events of the year, the plowing match. This competition judges the skills of man and beast as together they try to plow the straightest furrow. We hope to see you there on September 3.

The fields of Howell Farm soaked in some hard and much needed rain today. One farmer has described recent conditions as a "wet drought." It's rained enough this summer to keep most plants green, but the soil underneath has remained rather dry. One contributor to this "wet drought" is surely the extremely hot July New Jersey just endured. According to the state climatologist, July 2011 was the second hottest month ever recorded in the state, going back to 1895. (According to the same report, six of the ten warmest Julys of the past 117 years have occurred in the past eighteen years.) In regards to rain, July 2011 recorded about half an inch of precipitation below average. So it's been dry, but not extremely dry.

Despite some challenging weather, most of Howell Farm's summer crops are doing well. According to Farmer Jeremy, the pumpkins are looking good and the field corn is looking great.

The oat field was harvested last week by Farmer Gary using a modern (well, more modern than 1900) combine and tractor. Despite some weeds, the crop was a success.

Last week, our farmers and interns tackled the task of mucking out the sheep barn and spreading the nutrient-rich manure across the crop fields. This week, the sheep barn is a much less smelly place -- though it won't stay that way for long.

Mid-summer is an important time to make sure all the work horses are fit and healthy. Farmer Jeremy reports that Jesse has just recently come off the disabled list after two weeks of healing for a swollen hock (The hock is the joint between the gaskin and the cannon bone, in the rear leg.) Jeremy also recently reset Bill's front shoes after noticing that Bill seemed to be experiencing some uneven wear.

Farmer Ian made a trip to Lancaster, Pa. (draft horses capital of America) last week to pick up some supplies. He returned to the farm with new breast chains for Tom and Jeb, some special horse minerals, horseshoeing nails, and other useful items required for horse care.