June 8th, 2013 - Rosenhill Farm, Sweden

The farm here is most well known for apple juice pressing and its huge apple orchard. A common problem with apple orchards is that rose bushes often grow around the tree trunk, which can be harmful to the apple tree. So today, I was responsible for cutting the rose bushes.

I was doing it wrong at first. I was chopping off the individual branches one by one. It was easier, but it was slow. It took me a while to realize that this was actually much more time consuming, and much less effective. It didn't matter how many branches I cut. Because the root still remained intact underground, the rose bushes can always grow back. I realized it was more effective to work a bit harder, risk getting cut by the thorns, and dig deeper into the ground and get to the root. Once I was able to locate the root and chop it off, the entire rose bush would come off easily. Not only did this eliminate problem, it also prevented future rose bushes from growing.

When dealing with problems, get to the root of the matter.

by Jason Lam