Spring carrots have always been a dicey endeavor for me. Between the carrots’ taking a long time to germinate (and then blending in perfectly with the weeds) and the typical spring rain cycle (always too wet to get a tractor in to knock down the weeds), I have never had a salvageable spring carrot crop. Yet I refuse to give up!
Well, today I broke out a new farm toy, the flame weeder. That’s right, I burned the weeds out of my carrot rows! I knew this day was coming. Last night I counted the days since I sowed the carrots and was shocked to realize it had been over a week. First priority for today was checking those carrots to see if they had sprouted or not. Sure enough, I saw little carrots popping out of the soil. I quickly called up a farming buddy, from whom I bought the flame weeder, to ask if I had missed my window. Once I explained the stage the carrots were in I got the go ahead, “But you gotta do it now. If you wait another 2 hours it’ll be too late.”
Torch wand, Propane tank, Backpack
All Assembled
So I jumped back in the truck. Got the parts assembled (after heeding the sage advice of when two ends of a hose fit but don’t twist into each other, try twisting the other direction. Genius!), splashed down the muddy farm road and got to work burning off the weeds. It was one of the quickest and easiest weeding experiences of my life. Plus, I couldn’t help but hum the Ghostbusters theme in my head. Having a propane tank strapped to my back in an old backpack with a torch wand reminded me of those proton pack. Now all I need is a beige coverall. I ain’t afraid of no ghosts!
Flame weeder in action
Flame Weeder Ready!
