WATERLOO - Despite widespread flooding, the growing season isn't a total loss.

There's no need to fear all unharvested fruits and vegetables, an official says. Learn what's safe - and the difference between river flooding and flash flooding or excess rainwater.

"(With) flash flooding, people are going to be fine," said Julie Evenson, horticulturist for Iowa State University Extension at Black Hawk County.

But if gardens were inundated with river waters, take caution.

"Discard all of the leafy-type vegetables, like your lettuce, your cabbages, those types of things," she said. "They're just really hard to clean."

In general, immature fruits and vegetables in the blossom or pre-blossom stage should be safe to eat by harvest time, Evenson said. "I still recommend washing (before eating)," she noted.

But Mark Litteaur, a produce farmer just south of Waterloo, isn't taking any chances. He lost about four acres of food when the Cedar River engulfed his family's farm on Weiden Road early last month.

An estimated 600 tomato plants, a couple thousand heads of cabbage, 400 eggplants and numerous radishes, turnips and other vegetables were under 3 to 4 feet of water for up to a week.

"Nothing in that water should be harvested," Litteaur said. "It's filthy with the chemicals, sewers and the ground just smells.

"I had some beautiful onions," he added. "They still looked fine, but you smell them and they smelled like they were in a toilet."

When waters receded, Litteaur plowed the produce under and replanted late-season fruits and vegetables. Safety of customers and reputation is paramount in the produce business, he said.

Joyce Maxey, who lives near Boy Scout Camp Ingawanis in Waverly, isn't close to a river, but she still dealt with sopping wet ground from continuous spring rains. Her strawberries produced about a quarter of a typical crop.

"We were picking 92 pints of strawberries last year out of our strawberry bed," said Maxey, who helps manage the farmers market in downtown Waverly.

"This year I think the most we got was 24 at one time. If the strawberries touched the ground even if they weren't ripe, they rotted."

If unsure about tainted produce, just ask the farmers you're buying from, Evenson said.

Few patrons expressed concerns during the Cedar Valley market at Kimball and Ridgeway avenues Tuesday in Waterloo.

Kelly Morgan of Waterloo was more worried farmers wouldn't have enough to sell. She and her husband are loyal fans of Iowa-grown produce.

Besides frequent trips to local markets, they have an eight-week farm share - a delivery of seasonal vegetables - with Sunflower Fields in Postville.

But Tessa McKenna of Raymond, with her girls, Adelyn, 3, and Mehla, 16 months, was steering clear of fresh stuff. Not knowing the vendors or exactly where they're growing their goods makes her leery.

"I feel more safe going to the grocery store because they likely have guidelines," said McKenna.

Decisions also can depend on what you're looking to buy, said Otto MacLin, with his wife, Kim. The thought of bacterial contamination hadn't crossed their minds, and returning their three bunches of asparagus just wasn't an option.

"We're going to cook the … bejesus out of it anyway, in a hot something or other," Otto MacLin said. "That'll potentially kill anything that's alive."

Contact Tina Hinz at (319) 291-1484

or tina.hinz@wcfcourier.com.