We need some help. Today we trudged to the back of our property with our weed buckets in hand to get busy on the overgrowth of choking, hacking, coughing weeds.
Who needs the Swine Flu when you have this amount of weeds? It does take a rocket scientist to figure out how rapidly all the bad stuff takes over the good. Dear me!
It has rained a lot lately and the weeds know it. Makes them easy to pop out of the ground though; kind of like those annoyingly-temptative bubble wrap packing rolls. You can't pop just one. It soothes our compulsive compulsions. No wonder gardening is such good therapy for our mental and emotional states.
Here, get rid of the urge: Virtual Bubble Wrap.
Anyhoo, I noticed, as I neared, that my mayhaw trees weren't wearing their lovely Red Hat Society apparel. What had happened?
Only a few days ago they were peeking out of the green foliage---little red cardinals happily nodding their red crests.
As I strolled up to them, my worries were realized.
Except for a few, they are all browning and bristling. Totally abnormal. It isn't a very big crop (our trees don't seem to want to produce this year), but it's my small crop and I want it to succeed.
Does anyone know what is causing this? Does anyone know what can be done about it?
I'm afraid this year's harvest is snuff. We've been given the one sheet of bubble wrap that has already been popped and we're feeling kind of depleted.
Wish I could help but I dont even know what a mayhaw tree is nor have I ever seen one. Gardening is sure hit and miss sometimes. I cant tell you how my sympathies go out to farmers. I cant imagine my livlihood being dependent on the whims of the weather! Oh my.
Posted by: Mrs darling | April 30, 2009 at 09:28 AM
Looks like some sort of rust gall to me, though I am not familiar with this one. Reminds me of a cedar-apple rust gall.Perhaps quince rust?
Posted by: Theresa | April 30, 2009 at 01:13 PM
Dear Cay -- don't know about Mayhaw, but I did LOVE meeting you and your mama at the conference recently. I think I've got my local librarian hooked on the idea of homeschoolers creating their entire curriculum using library resources (she hadn't any idea) and I'm using your books to make my book requests for new purchases in our library system . . hee, hee. . .I say "local librarian" but when you're the 4th largest metro area in the US, that's kind of a big deal. . ad maiorem Dei gloriam, right. .
Posted by: Melinda Loustalot | May 01, 2009 at 02:09 PM
lol...got a kick out of the virtual bubble wrap! Simple minds, simple pleasures! Your garden is great. It will really be wonderful come harvest time.
Posted by: Caroline (stellamaris) | May 01, 2009 at 08:22 PM