It had been growing robustly and then somehow this past week it didn’t seem to be. I took a closer look.

Then I asked a friend at church and the instant seriousness on her face as she named it made it clear you do not mess with this.

But I thought only pears and apples get fireblight?

Peaches can, too.

I looked it up: those heavy winds we’ve been having can cause small points of damage where the bacteria can get in, and the three days of rain to finish the job, yes, my two-month-old Kit Donnell tree had it.

I put on trashable clothes this morning and followed her instructions.

Hair pulled back out of the way. A small jam jar with about a half cup of straight bleach in it. Heavy latex gloves.

I went out there and took pictures to compare against later. I bleached my pruning shears, took a single cut, walked it straight to the trash can around the house, came back, bleached the shears again, cut, walk over there, do not touch any parts of the tree except to take them away.

It surprised me that it took about twenty-five minutes. I’d thought there were two spots affected. I found six that definitely were; some leaves were a little lighter colored but well away from any blackening–I wasn’t sure and put them on a watch-and-see list. I didn’t quite want to know because I really didn’t want to lose a whole major branch or two. I’m hoping I don’t regret that.

I really, really want it to thrive and live.