Life on the farm for a young boy was usually very fun and exciting except for a few times when I had to perform some unpleasant task such as cleaning out the pig pen. This was also the case for my father, except the unpleasant task was trying to pay bills when the crop had failed. This happened several times and in different ways.
One particularly brutal way happened one summer with the sweet cherry crop. My father owned about five acres of sweet cherry trees and the cherries were at the peak of perfection and ready to be picked. It was the middle of July and very hot during the day. The pickers, mostly native Americans, were all lined up and ready to work, the ladders were set up and the boxes were spread out. It was 8:00 am and we were ready to start. That is when a cold front moved in.
With thunder and lightning and much bluster, the rain poured down. This storm lasted about ten minutes. The cherries on the trees hung down by the stem and the little indentation at the top of the cherry filled up with water. The sun came out and slightly heated the water and the cherries cracked all around the top. This, of course, ruined the fruit. The much-anticipated and hoped-for crop had been destroyed in about ten minutes.
This was a big loss for my father and our family, but it was a disaster for the workers who had hoped to take home some much needed cash. My brothers and I collected the ladders and stored them in the barn and put all of the boxes away ready to be used another year. We all hoped for a better outcome the next year.
by Richard Gappmayer
Note from Jennifer: Farmers are often at the mercy of the weather. I remember my dad using smudge pots in the orchard if there was a late frost and irrigating the raspberries because there was no rain. Working the land reminds us of our reliance on God and the tender mercies he grants to all his children. May we all have abundant crops this year.
Amen, God is in control, and there was a good reason for the cherry crop to fail that year. I hope the farmer eventually got to comprehend that.
Here in Florida, with oranges, grapefruit, lemons, and limes being a predominant crop, I hear on the news of farmers putting out smudge pots, not as much now as they used to back in the day. What IS a smudge pot, and what’s in it?
A smudge pot, at least the kind my dad used when I was a kid, is about four feet high and was filled with diesel fuel. Here is a very short youtube video that might give you more info. Farmers have always tried finding ways to keep their crops from freezing.
What’s blight? Can raspberries get that? That video was just perfect, I was beginning to wonder how the farmers prevented the trees from catching fire, but then he slammed the cap on the chimney. 🙂
Here in FL., a disease is crushing the citrus crops,it’s called Citrus Greening:
http://centralfloridaagnews.com/combatting-disease-with-faith-science-and-determination/
and citrus canker:
http://www.naples-fertilizer.com/florida-citrus-canker-a-10.html
Both of these attacked our 15 year old grapefruit trees. 🙁 The trees were at least 10 feet tall, too.
That is crazy! There are so many things a farmer has to deal with! I actually don’t know what blight is. I will ask my dad. I grew up in a peach orchard but before the peaches matured, my dad planted raspberry plants in the rows. He knows more about raspberries than most people do.
Living in the Deep South we understand because sometimes a pecan crop turns to nothing. The trees just don’t bear hardly any produce. Crazy, but God is in control ?. Puts it all into prospective.
Thank you, Pamela. The law of the harvest is definitely universal.
This is from my dad:
Since we are discussing smudge pots I will tell you of my experience with them. The cherry growers in Utah Valley would lose crops quite often from the frost. My brother Merrill was getting into the farming business and decided to try the smudge pots to see if they would work to save the cherry crops. He was in San Bernardino California in the late 60s and observed that many orange groves were being taken out and replaced with houses. These orange farmers had used the pots for many years to some success and the, now no longer needed, pots were available to purchase at a reasonable price. Merrill made contact with a man in San Bernardino who would gather up the pots and sell them. His name was Frank.
For our first trip we rented a trailer and pulled it behind Dad’s old red truck and headed south. After a long ride and some searching, we found the yard full of old pots. The colorful old man had lots of stories to tell but we soon got the truck and trailer loaded and were on our way home. We discovered that the trailer hitch had a big crack in it and probably would not make the trip. We stopped at a service station late at night in hopes that they would have a welder. The attendant, who was irritated at being bothered, said he did have a welder but he did not know how to use it. I had taken a farm shop class in high school and it included some welding. The quality of my work was just that, high school. The weld turned out to be very easy and was accomplished in a short time. It held, and we did make it home.
The pots burned diesel fuel and put out a lot of smoke and were very dirty. We made several trips to buy more pots which were sold to different farmers who wanted to try to save their cherry crops. I am not sure that the smudge pots turned out to be worthwhile. The trips, however, were a real adventure.
Your dad is a good writer. Did you take lessons from him, or vice versa? 🙂
I guess that’s why smudge pots are not being used any more. Interesting story. Tell your dad thanks!
Romans 10:9-13
John 3:16-21
Thanks, Nancy. I definitely got it from him. His mother wrote beautiful poetry and his brother writes cowboy poetry.