Fighting the Blight

  Years ago, two pear trees were planted alongside of the back deck.  I figured since the deck was raised a good bit from the ground, it would make things much easier come pear-picking time.  It did and all was good for years and years.  Although the squirrels ate their share of the fruit, I still had plenty to can each year.  Thankfully, I still have a good number of jars on the shelves because the harvest for this year looks to be a mite bleak.  The trees have taken a beating from weather related events and, now, have suffered another blow.  Fire Blight has somehow been introduced to the Bayou area.  This does not bode well for the fruit trees that did not suffer from the harsh winter blast in January.  The citrus trees were severely damaged then and now the pome trees are facing trouble.

  Fire Blight is one of those sneaky bacterial infections that often goes unnoticed until it is too late.  In the beginning, we assumed that the new leaves on the pear trees were just "burned" by the late freeze.  They became withered and charred. This soon spread throughout even the newer budding leaves and caused to trees to drop every blossom.  It was time to research what was happening to the poor trees and, wow, what a devastating thing it is.  Very few trees will survive without immediate and extensive treatment.  Mark and I worked hard to do what was needed but I still have doubts that we will save the trees or keep the bacteria from spreading to the nearby fruit trees.  It is a saddening thing to witness the struggle.

  Our focus now is on protecting the other fruit trees from becoming infected.  Every last leaf from the pear trees is being destroyed.  We have pruned the poor trees beyond belief and have raked, gathered and destroyed all clippings, dead leaves and even mulch around the trees.  We were told to "disinfect" the trees, surrounding area and "hiding spots" of bacteria with a bleach-type solution.  Hopefully, this will work.  If not, it will take years to replace all of the fruit trees that we had hoped would provide during our late years.  Starting over at this age is difficult as our energy levels are sure not what they used to be!  Still, we shall fight this blight!