To cut or not..that is the question!

Two years ago, Michael pulled up a small sapling that was growing under Uncle Alfred's pear tree.  We were in hopes that this tree would make the delicious Sand Pears like my uncle's tree.  I guess I am one of the weird folks of the world that really likes the texture of Sand Pears over that of  "Eatin' Pears".   "Eatin' Pears is the local term for the fancy, softer pears that most folks desire.  I like that crunch involved when munching a Sand Pear!  Anyway, Michael pulled up and transplanted the young sapling.  He had hopes that by this time, the tree would be quite large and even bearing fruit.  No such luck.  The tree is just the same height as it was when he planted it!

The funny thing about all of this is that the little tree has decided to bloom this year.  In amongst the many three inch long thorns (my first dead giveaway that this was not a true pear) are little clusters of blossoms!  To be honest, they are beautiful!  The brilliant white petals are a backdrop to lovely purple stamen tops.  When I first saw them, I was elated.  The little pear tree was going to bear fruit and prove itself despite its lack in size.  Later in the evening, I pondered why the tree had such large thorns.  A bit of research led me to believe that this is a Callery Pear and not a Sand Pear.  Not good. Now I have to make the decision as to whether the tree needs to be removed.  Callery Pears are those lovely things that are planted down the middle of city streets where the folks want blooms but no fruit that might fall and mess up their grounds.  They serve the purpose well as the fruit of a Callery Pear is small and birds can carry off any that might be produced on the tree.  The tree would no serve me well as I want fruit.  My garden is a supplier of foodstuffs and if a pretty bloom happens to be part of the process then I am all the happier.  My arable gardenspace is far to little to be taken up by something that is not going to bear fruit.  I do love flowers but a non-producing tree is another thing entirely!  Trees take up enormous amount of space!  Still, the blooms are pretty so I am in a quandary!  To cut or not..that is the question!   One other option is to attempt a grafting.  Perhaps we could graft a limb of our Bartlett Pear to this and make it a fruit-bearing tree that would earn its keep. I think I will leave this decision up to Michael!  Ahh..that was easier than I thought!

The Pear..

I have raised a pear! A lone, single, solitary pear..not a crop of pears..not even a basket of pears. It would have even been nice to have say..a dozen pears. No..I have one. One lonely pear hangs on my tree. Every morning, I stroll around the garden admiring the bountiful crops..we have picked buckets of black berries, bushels of tomatoes and tubs of peas. Then I turn the corner and the single pear comes into view.."the" pear..the lonely pear. Truth be told, it is a nice pear and it is actually rather impressive that the tree made even this one. I planted two pear trees in April not thinking that they would bear this year, but one blossom hung on to create a fruit. It is quite the large pear..nearly the size of a softball and hopefully this means that any future crops will be large. Lets just hope there are future "crops" and no more solo acts! The fact remains though that my entire crop is one pear..one sad pear. On the plus side..being a single fruit, it has not even attracted the attention of any of the hungry animals. (I think they do not believe it is worth the effort!)

Something grabbed my attention today..or rather the lack of something grabbed my attention. Since the summer began, the mudflats of the Bayou have been literally crawling with Fiddler Crabs. Yesterday, there were thousands.. today, there are none. I could not find a single Fiddler Crab anywhere. I have no idea where this many critters could have disappeared to in such a short time. Their holes have all been abandoned, there is no trace of them. I do not think that anything dire has occurred, I just have never seen this happen before. Sure, there were times when they would seek higher ground before storms, but I would always see them crawling around the hillside. Somehow, millions of tiny crustaceans have gone missing. I will have to start sleuthing around to see if I can find their whereabouts!