“The Good Old Days” -By Tom Kuehne

Weeds Weeds. Those healthy, fast growing, prolific plants that appear anywhere they are not welcome.

Some are spread from the air, some from their mature parents and others just appear where they are not wanted.

Sometimes the roots in the ground decide to sprout an above ground plant. Wherever they come from, they grow where we don't particularly want them.

When some of our immigrants moved to this country, they brought with them seed of plants that they enjoyed as a regular part of their diet. These seeds usually grew quite well and in their maturity, spread their seeds in the area around the parent plant. These plants have no natural enemies in the new country, so they spread rather quickly. An example is dandelions. Immigrants from Holland were accustomed to eating them as a salad, cooked as a vegetable and wilted with scrambled eggs, onion and bacon for breakfast. They have become one of the most recognizable noxious weeds. Not all of the plants that appear where we didn't plant them are bad, they are just growing where they were not planted by the farmer, gardener, florist or homeowner.

Other weeds probably were part of this country's plant population, but when the sod was plowed, exposing the soil, they rapidly moved into the newly opened soil. This same thing can happen today, especially with thistles and mustard. As a kid on the farm, one of my jobs was to cut any mustard plants and either cut or pull any thistles that infested the fields. A conversation on the ride to town would frequently include a comment about

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someone not cutting his thistles and allowing the seed to spread all over the country, which included our farm. They were competition for the planted crop, but Dad didn't want others driving buy to say “he sure has a good crop of those nasty thistles.”

When the original farmers cleared the land, they not only had to deal with the removal of the trees, roots and stumps, but they also had to deal with the roots that were left in the ground. These roots were probably not dead and would naturally sprout plants of the same kind as the parent plant. These woody sprouts could be cut, but since the root was still there, they would re-appear in a few days. The original settlers probably didn't have a cultivator and the corn had probably been hand planted, so any unwanted plants needed to be removed with a hoe. This job was handled by the entire family. I'm sure there was at least one of the kids that complained about not wanting to work in the field having to tolerate the heat, the dust, deer and black flies and those darn mosquitoes. The good part of having to hoe the field was that the fields were not 50 acres as they are today.

As the years passed, corn planters and cultivators became common. These machines were much more efficient than hand planting and hoeing. However, it was determined

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Freeport 320-836-2135 www.hennenlumber.com kills them, which is much easier than needing to eliminate the weeds with a scythe or a corn knife. However, sometimes due to scheduling problems, lack of spray materials or simply ignoring the weeds because they are not competing directly with the farmers' crops, the weeds are allowed to mature and create a crop of weeds for everyone next year. After all the years, they should have created a special affection in us, but the opposite is true.

For feedback or story ideas, email Tom at tom@swanvilleinsurance.com.

If you need help with Health or Life Insurance or for Senior Health Solutions Contact: Tom Kuehne 320-360-0343

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Elmer J. Vavra Jr.

Elmer J. Vavra Jr., 77 year old resident of rural Long Prairie, MN passed away

Tuesday, July 4, 2023 at the St. Cloud Hospital. Memorial Mass of Christian Burial was held on

Tuesday, July 11, 2023 at St. John’s Catholic Church in Swanville, MN with Father Ron Dockendorf officiating. Burial took place at the Bearhead Cemetery in Swanville, MN.

Elmer was born in Little Falls, MN on January 5, 1946 to the late Elmer and Julia (Yanta) Vavra. Elmer attended school in Swanville, MN. He met the love of his life Dianne Traut while custom combining in North Dakota. They were married on November 25, 1965 during a snowstorm at St. Mathias Church in Windsor, ND. Together they raised 2 daughters and 2 sons. He enjoyed working road construction for Northern Improvement for 17 years and Central Specialties for 32 years. He was going to retire after this summer. Elmer also worked at the Stutsman County Sheriff's Department. One of his greatest joys was driving the bus for his children’s school activities. Elmer and Dianne were Fire Wardens for 23 years. Elmer enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He loved deer hunting with his family. You could always find him cutting trees down in his spare time. During the winter months, he loved to ice fish, play cards, dice and watch westerns. Caring for Elmer and his family was the Shelley Funeral Chapel Little Falls, MN.

Elmer is survived by his wife Dianne of 57 years; children, Melissa (Wayne) Klose, Alan (Kathi) Vavra, Tama (Daniel) Larson, John (Jennifer) Vavra; grandchildren, Dustin Klose, Tony Klose, Breann (Lance) Krogh, Alexander (Carmen) Vavra, Kaitlyn (Brandon)

Lee, Austin Vavra, Jennifer (Andrew) Vlasak, Devin Larson, Brockten Vavra, Brodie Vavra; great-grandchildren, Tayia Krogh, Harper Lee, Beckett Krogh, Baylor Vlasak, Watson Lee, Adley Krogh, Kaden Vlasak, Mason Lee, Vito Vavra; sister, Karen Hoelker

Elmer was preceded in death by his parents, Elmer and Julia Vavra; father-in-law, Wilmar Traut; brother-in-law, Don Hoelker, great-grandson, Gabriel Lee.