One glaring difference between working an agricultural orchard and working a formal orchard was the added job of tidying up.
On the farm when we thinned. Apples were left to rot into the ground, the same goes for the fallers in Autumn. When I thinned in this orchard last year and walked away pleased with a job well done, my bosses reminded me that in this orchard we needed to pick them up. It was bit of a shock to me!
So I endeavoured to pick them up. Using a hooked hoe I pulled all fallers into the middle of the row and then painstakingly on my hands and knees put them in crates to add to juice or throw away. I have to admit, the orchard looked and smelt much better and it had the added value of any diseases being took out of the orchard, thus limiting the spread within. However, It adds a hefty workload to the job. I vowed that I needed to find another way.
Forward to this season. I had found the Apple Wizard, we bought it from https://vigopresses.co.uk/apple-wizard/ and I thought I would give it a go. Now I kind of thought it might be a gimmick but I was very surprised to find it worked really well. It struggled sometimes in long grass but with a bit of persuasion it worked well.
Pros
I was able to stand upright and what last year took a week and a bit of work now took two days! My back and knees were still intact and the orchard looked great. It comes with a small metal clip to help empty it but I just used my hands.
Cons
Only one really, the handle would sometimes come apart. An easy fix but a little annoying.
This is not an ad by the way. Its an honest review of a product we bought fair and square and will very much use. I’m very pleased with it.
Link again https://vigopresses.co.uk/apple-wizard/
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