June 2021 - 20

NOTES FROM THE FARM
Taking a seat best way to continue with the job
However, give me a machine with a
JERRY MILLS
Mills Apple Farm
jerry@millsapplefarm.com
seat, and I am good to go. During the
growing season, I spray the orchards,
apply herbicide and do some of the
mowing.
This winter, I cleared a couple of acres
Crops are looking good. Sunday,
April 18. Apples approaching petal
fall from a good full bloom with few
honeybees. Peaches approaching shuck
split with tiny fuzzy peaches. This is in
spite of temperatures in the mid-twenties
earlier in April. The next challenge is
coming up Tuesday with a morning
temperature of 27° F predicted.
Galloping happily into the sunset.
I suppose most working people look
forward to retirement so they can do
something different, or maybe nothing
at all. I'm not like that. I have always
enjoyed doing what I was doing and
could not think of doing anything else.
Sons and daughter help, but each has
other responsibilities, and I find myself
doing much of the agricultural work
by myself, except pruning. Thanks to
Parkinson's and congestive heart failure,
I cannot do much that requires being on
my feet.
of overgrown cropland to make room for
Christmas trees. It had a fair number of
tall trees 12 to 14 inches in diameter, plus
lots of brush and smaller trees. I am not
allowed to use a chainsaw, so everything
with roots had to be dug out and stacked.
The most fun comes with doing things
that in earlier lifetimes would have
required great physical effort. Today, I
dug out a sub-base for a concrete patio
and moved in a load of gravel from the
middle of the parking lot. Tomorrow
I'll spray orchards. After that, apply
herbicide and when there is time to
spare, spread gravel.
I'm just happy that I was able to
acquire the equipment that allows such
activity. The alternative is hobbling
around with a cane or walker, bossing
workers.
Good news on the health front! For
those who do not follow science or
current news, 60 Minutes, the Sunday
evening news program on CBS, had
a segment April 11 about developing
In the orchard as bloom takes hold.
Photo: Jerry Mills
vaccines for future pandemics.
In researching COVID-19, two
scientists discovered that people who
survive a virus attack have antibodies
in their immune system that are
effective in controlling the virus, which
is how the current COVID vaccines
came about.
Then, just to see if the procedure
would work on other viruses, they
found a very old survivor from the
Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, sampled
her blood to make a vaccine and found
that even though the virus sample
they tested was 100 years old, the new
vaccine controlled it.
This means if Spanish flu or
COVID-19 return or any future
deadly virus appears, we now have
the technology to make a vaccine and
dispense it before it becomes as deadly as
COVID-19 or the flu.
It is just sad that over 560,000
Americans had to die before this was
achieved. And that's not counting the
millions around the world who will have
died, too.
It is also one more reason to get your
vaccination for COVID-19 now, if
you have not already done so. It is as if
money is deposited in your life bank.
Farm physical therapy. For arms,
back and legs: climb in and out of a
tractor cab 10 times while attempting
to attach a three-point hitch orchard
sprayer to the tractor. Do five climbs on
each side. Lung therapy: emit loud swear
words nine times, one for every time
alignment is off by a ½ inch. Exercising
atonement: responding to granddaughter
who wanders by and asks, " What is your
problem, Grandpa? " Timing naps: doze
in tractor cab while spray tank is filling.
Wake up before tank is full. Exercise lungs
again when the tank overflows. VGN
Notes from the Farm
A collection on what's worked and what hasn't
Experience the wisdom, humor
and practical advice from
well-known Illinois grower and
marketer, Jerry Mills, throughout
his time in agriculture!
GET YOUR COPY TODAY!
bit.ly/vgn-farm
Help a great cause!
A portion of the proceeds from book sales will be donated to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Disease Research.
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June 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of June 2021