John 15: It’s All About the Roots, Part 1

It’s almost Olallieberry season on the central coast of California!

Last year, my lovely daughter-in-law, Stacey, and I drove  to a local berry farm in search of the luscious, purple jewels. We took the tractor pulled hay-ride out to the rows of vines and began the prickly business of picking.

I hesitated. The leaves on every vine were covered with powdery orange rust. I knew what it was but only because I’d seen it many years ago infecting our sod lawn.

Stacey and I agreed that the berries themselves appeared unaffected, so promising ourselves we’d rinse the berries before freezing them we went ahead and in a short time we had picked through several rows. We came away with quarts of  some of the largest and juiciest olallieberries we’d ever seen.

When I got home, I went right to my favorite search-engine! First, I was very happy to find out the berries were safe to eat. Second, I was very sad to read that the vines were in deep trouble and that the only solution was the worst solution.

From the adirondackalmanack I read:

“In the winter, the fungus hides out on the new roots underground, just waiting to reappear and spread the following year. You will know your plants have it when in late May and throughout June you find the undersides of your berry leaves coated with bright orange ‘stuff.’ The cure: destroy the infected plants. Rip (dig) them up in the early spring (before the pustules erupt), get their roots, and destroy them. ”

Like most things in life, it’s not a leaf problem at all; it’s a root problem.

See Part 2, “John 15: It’s All About the Roots”