Sinsull-- maybe you need to wassail your tree and sing it back to health? I wassail all my fruit trees when I plant them, then once or twice a year, particularly in extreme cold snaps or droughts. Don't know if it helps, but it makes ME feel better!

I sing the old "apple tree wassail" song, modifying it to fit the species.

Can't hurt...

On a totally different note (LA!), a lady from a local Japanese restaurant asked us if we could grow "Shiso" for them. They used to buy it from somebody at the farmers' market, but that vendor stopped growing it. I figured it wouldn't hurt to try, so I ordered a packet of Ao Shiso seeds from the Kitazawa Seed Co., an Asian-heirloom seed supplier in California. Of course, Maine ain't California--or Japan. Has anyone else grown this tasty Japanese herb, and do you have any tips on cultivation?

I figured we could start some in our hoop house and some in a raised bed outside, then just hang back and see how it does in the different conditions, but I'd ideally like to have enough of it to harvest and sell. (I wonder how many shiso leaves a Japanese restaurant goes through in a week?)