Last fall when I moved into my home in Hills, I had missed the apple season. The trees no longer were bearing fruit; the ground had stopped playing host to dozens of rotting cores – the process had ended.However, when my husband first saw the house in July, the apple trees were full and the image stuck with him. This year as July rolled in and began to pass, he started wondering about the apples. Why were his apple trees bare?I told him that it was not time for apples yet, but he assured me there were other trees in town that had tiny green apples hanging from their branches and that at this time last year the trees were full.At first I dismissed his complaints. It really didn’t matter that I didn’t have apples. I have lived with apple trees before and hate having to mow over the rotting apples that have fallen to the ground.However, his persistence continued to the point that I realized he might have decided to buy this house based on the sheer volume of apples it promised.Last fall he purchased a pie pan (we have never baked a pie) so that he could bake apple pies this summer. He talked about having an apple stand on the corner, had asked around about making apple sauce and even spent some amount of time worrying about the neighbors stealing all of the apples.Therefore, last week I decided to look into the problem so he could rest easy knowing he hadn’t killed the trees.My first resource was to ask the ladies at the Luverne Announcer office. Unfortunately, they offered little help. They just suggested the trees might be taking a year off. My boss, Rick Peterson, said he was having the same issue with his apple tree in Luverne – it had produced two lonely apples.Next stop, Deb DenHerder at the Rock County Extension Office.The Extension Service offered by the University of Minnesota is a handy little tool that is often overlooked by county residents. To learn more about the services offered, please read this week’s "Web site of the Week."DenHerder, the Extension Office manager, took down my questions, asked me several more and said that she would look into the situation and get back to me.Several days passed and I started thinking this Extension Office thing was a waste of taxpayer money, but on Monday a package arrived from her office.A nice hand-written note accompanied several pages of tree information.She diagnosed the problem with the crab apple tree as fire blight and referred me on to local nurseries for the McIntosh tree.Fire blight is caused by a bacterium that affects more than 130 plant species in the rose family. In Minnesota, fire blight is most often seen on apple, crab apple, pear, mountain ash and cotoneaster trees.The bacterium leaves the infected flowers shriveled and brown or black in color. As the infection progresses, leaves on the same branch turn dark brown or black (as if burned by fire). The leaves hang downward before falling to the ground.If the tree had fruit, it would become mummified and cling to the tree for several months.I had been watching these symptoms for months on my crab apple tree and am pretty sure DenHerder correctly identified the problem.The bacteria can get into the tree during warm, humid weather, especially following a spring or summer hailstorm. This was in line with our recent weather patterns.Now I will begin the search for properly ridding our tree of fire blight.I wonder if I can get a giant bottle of pink amoxicillin. That kills bacteria, doesn’t it?As for the other apple tree, the verdict is still out. It is not displaying the signs of fire blight, yet there isn’t any fruit. It has been suggested that it only blooms every other year or that the blossoms froze during a late winter storm.Whatever the reason, I hope the apples are back next year. Otherwise, what is the use of having a pie pan?Story ideas or comments can be emailed to Lexi Moore at lexim@star-herald.com or called in at 962-3561.