October 2021 - 37

NOTES FROM THE FARM
New equipment helps put a crimp in orchard weeds
As you can see by the photo, the
JERRY MILLS
Mills Apple Farm
jerry@millsapplefarm.com
device consists of an 18-inch bar
extending forward from the front of a
zero-turn lawn mower. The bar is long
enough to extend into the center of the
tree canopy without limb ends getting in
the mower driver's face.
A one-inch metal conduit 12 inches
Jonathan apple harvest is finishing
as I write this. The heat index was
over 100˚ F most days in August, but
now September is back to normal.
Fruit size is well above average and
color is good - with rot spots.
I tried to get them stop-dropped and
rot-proofed, but it appears I failed in
both cases.
Biggest soybean plants ever. Drove
a tractor up to the auction house last
week and that placed me high enough
to see over the tops of soybean fields. In
some fields, the plants had to be at least
four feet high or higher. I have never
ever seen such tall beans! A farmer said,
" Yep, and there are pods all the way to
the tops too. "
The same is true with corn. It reminds
me of the old days when all corn was tall
and with huge ears.
Last month I bragged about a
new bulldozer blade for the track
loader. It was going to allow me to
make perfectly level roads, etc. Now,
I am not so sure. The blade adjusts
eight ways and uses a combination of
joysticks, buttons and came with no
directions for assembly or operation.
Tool of the month. This one is
brilliant in its simplicity, and I hope no
one else needs it. It is a combination
giant smart weed and vine puller for
removing such weeds from orchards,
especially when ragweeds top the apple
trees and vines cover the foliage below.
long welded on the forward end forms
a tee.
To use, the mower operator pushes the
bar into the base of the canopy and then
swipes left or right while withdrawing
the puller. Vines and ragweed stalks
are hooked and pulled down and out of
the canopy. An experienced driver can
develop a rotary pattern going round and
round from one side of an aisle to the
other, clearing two half-rows at a time, all
the while spinning mower blades chop
what falls to the ground.
Those weeds were bad this year, and
this allowed the pick-your-own people to
get in and harvest the crop.
Sad, frustrating news. Got a text
yesterday from a nephew saying his
60-some-year-old sister and her husband
had died of COVID-19. Their daughter
just came home from a hospital after
being seriously sick for over three
weeks. None of them were vaccinated.
I extended condolences, but I have
concerns about how this happened. Free
shots were available for months.
One sign of aging is when sweat
drips off the ends of your eyelashes,
and you cannot see because of the
liquid pooled on your glasses. And, to
think, 67 years ago this month I was an
aviation cadet squadron commander
who won every single marching
competition we participated in because
I encouraged my troops to walk tall and
straight - like me. FGN
A weed and vine puller for removing climbing milkweed and giant ragweed, etc., from
bushes, evergreen and fruit trees. Mills Apple Farm, Marine, Illinois. Photo: Jerry Mills
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October 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of October 2021