After this wonderful rain and cool weather I fully expected to go out and see the canes and fruit reviving for the fall crop.  As I wandered down the rows picking fruit for dessert, I had a sinking feeling.  We had been warned about this possible pest, a vinegar fruit fly from Asia new to the USA.  I noticed fruit flies around the fruit and lots of damage on the fruit that was unusual for this time of year.  We collected some of the little buggers and put them under the microscope.  It definitely appears we have this fruit fly from what we compare to the web page pictures.  I will send this off to our state entomologist for confirmation and begin setting traps.  This pest also affects other berries and the alarm has already been sounded in California, Oregon, and Washington.  Now we must figure out this new dilemma.  If the berries keep looking this bad, I suspect there will be no fall upick this year.  The plants were stressed from the heat and drought but this should be their time to resurrect and produce loads of fruit.

Oh the irony that this pest is a vinegar fruit fly.  We will keep you posted.