July 2022 - 20

NOTES FROM THE FARM
Pecan sprayers, fruit rot and increasing health issues
food supply, especially Asia.
Google Maps shows why. The
JERRY MILLS
Mills Apple Farm
jerry@millsapplefarm.com
Ukrainian countryside is nothing but
large orderly farms.
YouTube shows large-scale
It is mid-May as I write this, and corn
is just being planted. Beans still in the
bags. Spring trees to plant, still in pots,
thank goodness. First time I ever used
pots instead of bare roots, and glad I
did. Reason: mostly too wet!
Combating late-season fruit rots:
Late rots never used to be a problem
for us, but summer diseases like fly
spec and sooty blotch were. So was
scab. Now things are backwards. We
have little scab but ever-increasing
amounts of fruit rots.
The problem, I learned this year,
was that I was not applying enough
fungicides during bloom and fruitlets
were being infected by fungus spores
at that time. The infections stay
dormant until starches turn to sugars
and then they take off. This happened
the last two years.
War in Ukraine may affect
commodity prices: Ukraine is - or
was - a major contributor to the world's
mechanical agriculture, well ahead of
many competitive ag areas. It is sad
to hear that Russians steal Ukrainian
farmer's grain and their equipment. I
can sympathize with that.
You may have seen where the
Russians took everything from a John
Deere dealership and shipped it 700
miles into Russia, including two big
combines and all the tractors.
Tool of the month: A pecan sprayer.
Not the same as air-blast fruit tree
sprayers for sure. Pecan trees can live
for a hundred years and get 100 feet
high. I have three already that high and
I planted them, but not 100 years ago.
They produce wormy, tasty nuts.
I tried to spray them with our AgTec
sprayer. Totally inadequate. When
considering there are another 50 pecan
trees just coming into production
with large, beautiful nuts, we needed a
sprayer just for them. Pecan sprayers
can shoot a blast 100 feet straight up,
so I'm told. We'll find out. I think it
will be useful for early season fruit
spraying too. Imagine a blast of spray
This pecan sprayer is Jerry's tool of the month. Photo: Jerry Mills
covering everything in a swath 100
feet wide.
The newer pecan planting covers a
5-acre parking lot. I put it in originally
to provide shade for parked cars and
nuts for pick-up-your-own customers.
Then I noted that shelled pecans
WHERE DO VEGETABLE
GROWERS SOURCE PRODUCTS
FOR THEIR BUSINESS?
sell for $10 a pound and healthy trees
produce 100 pounds each. It is easy
to get carried away by the math, and I
did. Stay tuned.
Medical challenges brought on by
age: People, like complex machines,
wear out. An aortic valve was my first,
at age 67. There were no options. It had
to be replaced. There have been a whole
series of incidents since, each addressed
promptly. I do not believe in fooling
around, and I am still functioning.
Solutions, in no particular order:
leaking aortic heart valve at age 67 -
new, fabricated ones. (Two times.)
Irregular heartbeats, age 70-80 -
medication and an implanted heart
defibrillator, plus an electric jolt if
heartbeat stops. (A comfort knowing it
is there.)
Legs swelling and weight gain, age
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80s to present. By varying Lasix-type
medication rates, I regulate water
retention and keep weight within
limits while working with my doctor.
Never wait until the next appointment
if weight begins to vary.
Sleep apnea, late 80s - CPAP
machine obtained by doctor's
prescription. Essential if congestive
heart failure is a threat.
Parkinson's ailments: Burning feet
in bed at night, a complication from
peripheral atrophy, continuously,
until recently - two 5-milligram
melatonin pills at bedtime stopped it.
Body weakness, mostly legs and back,
which limits physical work; physical
therapy/exercises help the body, but
self-propelled machines get work done
on the farm.
Constipation. A cap full of an
osmotic laxative, such as ClearLax.
Unlike conventional laxatives, dissolved
in orange juice in the morning or milk
at bedtime. I use it daily.
Body tremors started nine years
ago - nicotine patches initially,
carbidopa-levodopa pills later.
Important to get care from a
" movement specialist, " a neurologist
with special training.
Heartburn or gastroesophageal
reflux disease (GERD) - cimetidine.
Doctor says it is the least harmful for
long-term use.
Prostate, 15 years ago - find a
urologist whose patients never have
dribbles. He is no good if they do.
Find a better one.
Question for the folks in tornado
areas: Where should heavy farm
equipment be parked during
tornadoes or bad windstorms? In
studying storm area pictures, it
occurred to me that equipment heavy
enough to stay put in high winds
might be better off parked in open
fields away from flying debris. Maybe
even large planters or tillers, etc.,
instead of in sheds. But not combines,
wagons or semi-trailers? I assume
empty grain bins go and full ones stay.
How full should they be to stay?
If anyone wants to report your
experience or observations, I'd
like to write about them (jerry@
millsapplefarm.com).
Help wanted, correction: If anyone
responded to my request last month
and did not get a response, the
telephone number was wrong. My
number is 618-910-2108. VGN
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July 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July 2022
