November 2020 - 36

NOTES FROM THE FARM
Sign of the times: How to stay vigilant amid challenges
JERRY MILLS
Mills Apple Farm
jerry@millsapplefarm.com
television news repeatedly showing the
death of George Floyd in Minnesota. My
complaint was the media showing the scene
repeatedly, sometimes as many as three
times in a single half-hour news program.
Yesterday, the same tweet came back
Good news for a change: Last month
I expected crop failure because of rots
appearing as the fruit ripened. As the kids
say, I was bummed out.
As a last resort I sprayed Jonathans
with Merivon fungicide along with the
stop drop. It worked! Crop is holding
and staying clean. We just had one
of the best two weekends in years, in
spite of COVID-19 restrictions, labor
shortages, etc.
We pulled it off with just three people.
Daughter Sherry met customers wearing
masks and sold them empty bags. Son
Lowell carried them to and from the
orchard in our wagon train. A baker kept
the bakery counter replenished at Sherry's
station. We closed all of our regular play
facilities. I hid in the wood shop trying to
finish a cover to protect our new sign from
the elements. (See photo.)
What do you tell your friends and
family these days? Not since the Great
Depression has there ever been as bleak a
Handmade shelter designed to protect a new LED welcome sign at Mills Apple Farm,
Marine, Illinois. Unfortunately, we were unable to get it mounted over the sign to
make this issue's deadline. Note the extended back panel rising behind the roof. There
is a long vent behind it to allow heat generated by the sign's electronics to escape.
Photo: Jerry Mills
time as there is now. Fortunately, I was too
young to realize the depth of that situation.
Now, I do.
My greatest sympathy is for those who
are unable to fend for themselves, the
elderly and the very young, threatened
by coronavirus and hunger, the farmers,
ranchers, fruit and winegrape growers and
business people who are unable to stop the
fires or hurricanes and move out of harm's
way. That is so sad.
On the other hand, it is hard for to
feel sympathy for those who deliberately
ignore warnings from the experts in order
to " do their own thing, " whether it be not
protecting themselves and their loved ones
or staying in their homes until it is too late
to escape fires or big storms.
For some reason, we Americans, with all
the science, communications and media
available, still fail to exercise common
sense when it comes to our own welfare.
Ranchers thin their herds; orchardists thin
their crops. Maybe this is Mother Nature's
way of thinning us.
Where not to plant Honeycrisp apples:
Five years ago, we planted 150 Honeycrisp
trees within 50 feet of woods. The trees had
decent crops these last two years, but, just
as they ripened, the crops disappeared. The
drops are gone too.
Groundhogs? Deer? Squirrels?
Probably some of each. Two-legged
thieves would not have carried rotted
fruit away, but these did.
The enormous power of social media.
On May 21, 2020, I sent a tweet, something
I had never done before, protesting
with a notation, seen by 6 million viewers,
including a niece in California listed by
name. It would be interesting to know
where that tweet has been since May. I
know it was mine because it had the same
two original typos. It is still out there.
Tool of the month. Have you seen
electric signs lately? Our old one used neon
lights. This one has LEDs. The remote
program allows three colors and 12 rows of
lights to produce about any kind of sign a
person can imagine. It is spectacular!
My first flu shot in 67 years! The
very first shot, so many years ago, made
me sicker than a dog and I ended up in
the hospital. That vaccine used chicken
eggs, still in the most common influenza
vaccines, which is why I never had another
shot, until now.
There is a non-egg vaccine. It uses a
component from fall armyworm larva.
This year, when Marilyn went for her flu
shot, I tagged along and asked if they had
eggless vaccine. It turns out they did, the
worm stuff.
That was a week ago. No problems so far
but I did notice a craving for lettuce. VGN
36 | VegetableGrowersNews.com
http://www.VegetableGrowersNews.com

November 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November 2020

November 2020 - 1
November 2020 - 2
November 2020 - 3
November 2020 - 4
November 2020 - 5
November 2020 - 6
November 2020 - 7
November 2020 - 8
November 2020 - 9
November 2020 - 10
November 2020 - 11
November 2020 - 12
November 2020 - 13
November 2020 - 14
November 2020 - 15
November 2020 - 16
November 2020 - 17
November 2020 - 18
November 2020 - 19
November 2020 - 20
November 2020 - 21
November 2020 - 22
November 2020 - 23
November 2020 - 24
November 2020 - 25
November 2020 - 26
November 2020 - 27
November 2020 - 28
November 2020 - 29
November 2020 - 30
November 2020 - 31
November 2020 - 32
November 2020 - 33
November 2020 - 34
November 2020 - 35
November 2020 - 36
November 2020 - 37
November 2020 - 38
November 2020 - 39
November 2020 - 40
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/vgn-2025-digital-seed-guide
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/february-2025
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/january-2025
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/buyers-guide-2025
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/december-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/november-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/september-october-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/july-august-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/may-june-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/april-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/march-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/february-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/vgn-digital-seed-guide-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/january-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/buyers-guide-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/december-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/november-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/september-october-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/july-august
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/may-june-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/april-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/march-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/vgn-digital-seed-guide-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/february-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/january-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/december-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/buyers-guide-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/november-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/september-october-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/august-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/july-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/june-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/may-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/march-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/february-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/seedguide-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/buyersguide-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/january-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/december-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/november-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/october-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/september-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/august-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/july-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/june-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/may-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/april-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/march-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/february-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/seedguide-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/buyersguide-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/january-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/december-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/november-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/october-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/september-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/august-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/july-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/june-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/may-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/april-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/march-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/february-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/buyersguide-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/january-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/december-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/november-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/october-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/september-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/august-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/july-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/june-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/may-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/april-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/march-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/february-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/buyersguide-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/january-2019
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com