January 2020 - 28

NOTES FROM THE FARM
Out with the old trees, in with new ones
JERRY MILLS
Mills Apple Farm
jerry@millsapplefarm.com
enthusiastic, yet our welfare must weigh
heavily on her mind. Bill knows what
his future holds and seems to be dealing
with it realistically.
For my part, I have recovered
Replanting orchards: I pushed out
old apple trees today and realized we
need to start planting new trees. Even
though they appeared to have sturdy
trunks, many root systems are worn out.
So what new varieties should we
plant? And how many? I wish I had
fruit growing neighbors and I would
sneak over and see what they are
planting. Maybe the winter shows will
provide inspiration.
Portraits of courage. This year our
marketing efforts suffered from events
running in the background which led
me to wonder how many other families
seemingly operate without a care in the
world, yet behind the façade, life and
death dramas are running their course,
and we never hear about them.
In our case, my daughter, who is
doing more of the management of the
farm as my health tanks, also had to
deal with a major calamity at home. Her
husband has amniotic lateral sclerosis
(ALS). It started slowly several years
ago. He now requires continuous care,
and even though they have part time
help, the responsibility is hers.
In addition, she assumed many of
my farm responsibilities, managing
our workers, the bakery, going to
farmers' market, running the little store,
scheduling weddings, etc., all the while
seeing that Bill and I made it to our
medical appointments.
She continues to be cheerful and
enough from heart issues last spring
to almost get the orchards sprayed and
herbicided and hope to do better next
year. Thank goodness for machines
that let me contribute.
So life goes on. This week I rooted
out 15, 35-year-old apple trees and
rebuilt a heavy metal doorframe for the
new shed. Some dummy had backed
into it with a track loader.
Hey! Did you see the big ad in last
month's Fruit and Vegetable Growers
News advertising my book? I suspect
anyone with just enough talent to get
something printed dreams of publishing
a book. Many folks self-publish. Selfpublishing
was not my plan.
Instead, the Fruit and Vegetable
Growers News editors asked if it would
be all right if they did it. I said sure, for
I had no idea about how to go about it,
and they did.
Now, the mark of real success for an
author is to make it to the New York
Times bestseller list and appear on the
late night talk shows.
It is an honor just to be able to write
something others find useful.
Speaking of useful, the one machine
I use almost every day is my track loader.
There were doubts and questions when
I purchased it six years ago, especially
since we already had a skid loader.
However, wheeled loaders get stuck,
make ruts and cannot handle mud. Both
of them tear up sod but tracks make less
mess and you can run back and forth
with tracks and smooth out the damage
and, with a cab you can work any time
The easy way to remove big old apple trees from the center of an orchard at Mills Apple
Farm. Marine, Illinois. Photo: Jerry Mills
in all kinds of conditions.
For instance, we had one and a half
inches of rain over the weekend yet
today (Monday) I could take advantage
of the wet soil and push big old dead
trees into the aisles of the orchard, then
hoist them with the grapple high in the
air and haul them to the burn pile. The
leaves had not dropped so it was easy to
spot dead or dying trees.
It is a joy to be an old person
who cannot walk well yet be able to
accomplish so much from a seat in a cab.
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small items, no money down and no
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January 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2020
