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…