The LOUISIANA MAYHAW ASSOCIATION
COOKING CONTEST
will be held at the Louisiana Methodist Center in Woodworth, La.
on Saturday March 18, 2006.
Registration will be from 8:15 – 9:00 AM
Information and registration form
News from July, 2005
Mayhaw Madness
Area residents prepare for celebration of popular fruit
By Toni Walthall, News-Times Staff
Maxine, Red Majesty, Cajun, Royal Star, Marlene, Heavy and Georgia Giant.
No. These aren’t the names of movie stars or rock bands.
They are varieties of mayhaw; a small, juicy, red fruit, otherwise known as a hawthorn.
Used to make delicious jellies, syrups, cakes, cookies,
wines and even slushes, locals celebrate the mayhaw’s growing popularity
each year during El Dorado’s Mayhaw Festival at the historic John Newton
House on Jefferson Street.
As the May 7th event approaches, Chairperson Sherri Odom
finds herself busy making mayhaw jelly to sell to hundreds of visitors
the festival draws to El Dorado. Last year, bad weather dampened the event,
but this year, the promise of good weather has organizers bracing for a
hardy crowd coming in search of its mayhaw offerings.
Recognizing the opportunity created by the growing mayhaw market,
El Doradoan Paul McLaughlin has launched the largest mayhaw orchard in the state
on his Nick Springs Road farm.
Mayhaw trees are native to river bottoms, mostly in the southern
climate zones along the Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Georgia,
Alabama and now Florida. South Arkansas is in the northern most border of
the mayhaw growing zone, making McLaughlin’s orchard – with a potential capacity
of more than 1,400 trees – the largest operation north of Louisiana, which
currently boasts one of the largest orchards in the nation with 2,500 trees,
according to McLaughlin.
Tuesday, Odom took time out of her jelly making and festival
planning to tour McLaughlin’s orchard and to discuss details of the Mayhaw Festival.
Still in its infant stages, the orchard is not producing enough
fruit to fill the demand, so McLaughlin gathered his mayhaws in the wild.
One mayhaw tree produces enough of the tiny fruits to make
a year’s supply of jelly for one family. It takes 50 gallons of berries
to create 20 gallons of juice, which is needed for mayhaw jelly. Asked what
inspired him to start a mayhaw orchard, McLaughlin said he visited a friend’s
pecan orchard while dove hunting near Texarkana.
“I watched him harvest pecans, making $150,000 a year,” he said.
“That may be small change to some, but it was enough to get my attention.”
McLaughlin said he researched his options for five years,
seeking input from a professor at the University of Georgia.
“I found out there’s a lot of knowledge that goes
into this business,” he said. “It’s been five years and I’m still
learning. There’s a lot of labor involved.”
Some mayhaw operations earn an estimated $5,000 per acre.
McLaughlin learned to graft his own trees using native root stock.
He has approximately 1,500 trees in his nursery. Some will be ready to sell
at the Mayhaw Festival. One day, McLaughlin aspires to develop his own variety
of mayhaw. He even knows what he will name it. He gets a lot of help from
others in the Louisiana Mayhaw Association.
The difficult part of starting an orchard is the unpredictable,
uncontrollable forces of nature. One ice storm could wipe out his dreams.
Some of his early starts were wiped out by deer. McLaughlin now protects
the vulnerable plants in his nursery with an electric fence, but even an electric
fence won’t keep fire blight or cedar rust from transferring to the leaves in
his young orchard.
His dream is worth the risk, he said.
“The most satisfying thing will be to look out there in the spring
and see those trees full of white blossoms and then red berries,” he said, showing
signs of a man with mayhaw juice in his blood.
Image not available
We would like to thank the El Dorado News-Times
for allowing us to reprint this article by Mrs. Toni Walthall
for their May 5, 2005 edition.
Asian Ambrosia Beetles in Arkansas
Our good friend Paul McLaughlin of El Dorado forwarded
an article to this editor about infestations of the Asian Ambrosia Beetle
in Central Arkansas this spring.
Although it arrived in a port at Charleston, South Carolina
in 1974, it was first noticed in Arkansas about three years ago. It feeds
on the bark of fruit, nut and ornamental trees. They also infest red maple,
Japanese maples, peach and pecan trees under the age of five years of age.
The hole the beetle bores through the saplings allows entry
of pathogenic fungi that are lethal to the trees. The female lays her eggs
in the tree and feeds on the fungi. The symptoms of infestation are wilted
leaves and foliage. You should also notice lines of dust on the tree.
Fungicides, chemicals and insecticides are seemingly
ineffective once the beetle has bored through the bark. The tree must
be destroyed before the end of the 55 day life-cycle.
God forgives those who forget the
importance of mayhaw jelly
REFLECTIONS
by Jerry Pierce
Our preacher said a few Sundays ago that somebody
gave him some “mayhog” jelly. He even wondered out loud what part
of the hog the jelly came from. The comments were made in the
pulpit, so the preacher is on record with God and everybody as
not understanding the importance of mayhaw jelly in these parts.
The pastor did say that the jelly made his biscuits
taste better, and that helped him some. If he had wasted the jelly
on a bagel or bran muffin or something like that, there would
probably have been a vote next Sunday to get another preacher.
Biscuits are important in North Louisiana, too.
Brother Tommy will probably be forgiven by God
and most of the congregation for his mayhaw jelly blunder because,
as my daddy used to say, he’s not from around here.
The preacher came to Louisiana from Alabama,
so people there obviously don’t have a clue about mayhaw jelly.
Since Bear Bryant died, folks in that state don’t have a clue,
either, about real, big-time football like they play at LSU.
Bear knew about mayhaw jelly, because he was raised in Arkansas
near North Louisiana.
One other thing that might help Brother Tommy survive
the mayhaw jelly slip-up is that he’s probably too young to know about
the tradition of mayhaw jelly making. I don’t know his age, but people
who don’t get the AARP magazine seem young to me.
I have a lot of good memories of mayhaw jelly.
Not just the jelly itself and how good it was on biscuits
and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches but the whole process
of getting the mayhaws, making the jelly and “putting it up,”
as my parents would say.
There was a little cluster of mayhaw trees in
a creek bed a couple of miles from our house, and Dad kept
a close watch on them during the weeks that the berries were
ripening to make sure we gathered the mayhaws at just the right time.
We had the berries pretty much to ourselves, because
the trees were a quarter mile or so off a dirt road surrounded by
thick woods and heavy underbrush. If there had been much rain that
season, the woods were boggy and the trees sat in a shallow creek.
The Saturdays we picked mayhaws were special events
each year. The Hughes next door and the Friars on the street behind
us were part of my parents’ jelly-making conglomerate, so the three
families cooperated in getting the mayhaws.
I don’t remember the time of year the mayhaws were ripe,
but it was warm. We took our shirts off and went barefoot after going
through the briars and brushes, and we got frequent warnings to be on
the lookout for snakes as we splashed around in the creek.
Our dads shook the trees to jar the berries loose
and knocked others down with sticks and poles. We scooped them
off the water and picked them up from the ground and put the little
marble-size berries in big mayonnaise jars and galvanized silver buckets.
Helping gather the mayhaws was the kids’ only involvement
in the jelly making. Adults took over after that, cooking the berries
in big pots on every burner on the stove and pouring the juice through
screen strainers and white bed sheets to remove seeds, skins, trash
and other particles.
Then they added to the red liquid the sugar, gelatin
and other ingredients that went into the jelly and cooked and stirred
for what seemed like a long time until the mixture got to just the
right consistency to pour into jars.
Dozens of pint size Mason jars left over from last
year’s batch of mayhaw jelly had been scalded and sanitized to hold
the new batch. The mixture was dipped hot from the pots at just the
right time and pored to the perfect level in the jars.
The three families counted how many jars they had “put up”
and the jelly was evenly divided after it was cooled and the metal caps
were on the jars. It was shared with neighbors, kinfolks and the preachers
at Calvary Baptist Church.
Our jelly lasted most of the year. When it ran out,
we had to eat store bought jelly that was just not the same as mayhaw.
I hear stores have commercial mayhaw jelly now, but I’m afraid to try it.
Just like I wouldn’t eat canned chicken and dumplings after having the
kind grandmother made.
Brother Tommy might not know the difference in home made
and store bought mayhaw jelly, but folks my age would.
We would like to thank Louisiana Country Magazine
for permission to reprint this article by Mr. Jerry Pierce for their
April, 2005 edition.
Jan. 2006 Louisiana Mayhaw Newsletter
in PDF format.
MARKETING MAYHAWS
This information was part of the presentation given by Dora Hatch
(Extension Agent, Community Economic Development, LSU Ag Center)
at the 2005 Conference.
dhatch@agctr.lsu.edu
Marketing Strategies
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Niche Markets Include:
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Agri - Tourism
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E-Commerce
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- Minimal Marketing Start-up Cost
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- Must have large amounts ready to meet consumer demand
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Producers considering agri-tourism will need:
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- Little or no advertising or promoting
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- Higher prices than wholesale
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Value-Added Products
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Advantages of E-Commerce
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Jams, Jellies, Juice, Sauce/Flavorings, Ice Cream, Pie Fillings, Coffee Cakes, Wine, Butter
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Contacts with schools and tourism boards
Good people skills
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A small business can…..
• Provide better service to existing customers
• Reach out to new markets
• Reduce cost of sales and grow bottom line
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MARKET TIPS
- Contact Louisiana Tourist Centers
(Promote products during “Tourist Week”)
- Give free samples with contact information
- Official Louisiana Jelly
- Colorful displays
- Price for your area
- Know your competition
Additional information is available at the following websites:
www.ltpa.org
www.southfest.com
www.laffnet.org
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Notes from the President
Where are we headed in the Mayhaw
Association? As more orchards are being
planned and others are coming into
production are we going to be overwhelmed
with mayhaws in the future? What we don’t
want is to produce more fruit than the
market can handle. There is nothing more
discouraging to a grower than having a very
successful crop and having no market or
having to sell at a low price. I think we need
to work on developing more markets for
produce and products.
Another serious problem the grower
faces is Fire Blight. This has been bad in
my orchard this year, especially on the late
bloomers. On some late bloomers Fire
Blight has killed the entire tree. We are
working to get a label in Louisiana on
agricultural Streptomycin. This has been
successful on apples and pears in both the
northeast and northwest parts of the
country.
I would like to invite anyone interested
to attend our board meetings. We have four
per year.
Looking forward to seeing you.
Spec
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The next L.M.A. Board Meeting will be August 26, 2005
at 9: AM in Woodworth, La. at the First Baptist Church.
(1/2 mile west of the only traffic light in Woodworth.)
Hope to see you there.
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Tenth Annual Mayhaw
Conference and Field Day
The Tenth Annual meeting of the
Louisiana Mayhaw Association convened at Camp
Grant Walker on a cool spring morning in Pollock
with approximately 85 people in attendance.
President Leroy Cole of Marion welcomed
everyone and asked Region 3 Board Member Murvin
Mott to ask for God's Blessing on the conference.
Charlie Hutchins of Grant Fruit
Processing gave an update on the market for mayhaws
and reported the demand continues to grow.
Dr. John Pyzner, Associate Professor
of Horticulture with the LSU Ag Center discussed
mayhaw pests and the methods of control. He related
stories of experiences mayhaw growers have had
with various pests.
Bubba Hoggatt, Board Member for
Region 2, shared the story of his initial efforts
at establishing a mayhaw orchard in Marion several
years ago, along with the problems and solutions
of a grower. Rev. Hoggatt's stories were very
informative and often amusing. He had to erect
an 8 foot fence to eliminate the deer problems
- using salvage materials, of course.
Evelyn White of Stark, Louisiana
told the story of the origins of the Stark Mayhaw
Festival and how it has continued to grow in scope
over the years. She said that there are no large
orchards in her area, mainly small home orchards
and mayhaws in the wild.
Leonida Altazan-Brown announced
the winners of the various categories in the cooking
contest. The big winner again this year was Dr.
Alex Laney. The mayhaw wine provided by Jimmy
Leger of Iowa, LA was quite delicious and many
people were seen copying down the recipe. The
recipes will be available in the newsletter and
on the L.M.A. Website.
Dora Hatch, Extension Agent, Community
Economic Development, LSU Ag Center, discussed
mayhaw marketing and grants. Her presentation
included information about niche marketing, creating
"value added" products, advertising
and promotion. She also discussed the advantages
of E-Commerce. It was a very informative 30 minutes
with audio-visual aids, handout materials and
Website addresses.
Dr. Charlie Graham provided updates
on his research involving mayhaw varietal differences
in anti-oxidants. He explained the food value
variations that exist between different mayhaw
cultivars. It was mentioned also that the value
of mayhaw production in Louisiana has in recent
years exceeded most of the fruits produced here
other than the standard crops such as strawberries.
Before breaking for lunch, the group
heard from Don Lord, the L.M.A. Secretary, as
he discussed the L.M.A. website and newsletter.
Don asked for articles, photos, clippings, stories,
etc. from members. He reported the L.M.A. Board
had promoted the mayhaw industry and the Association
by mass mailing the winter newsletter which included
many color photographs. Federal grant funding
was utilized.
Don also mentioned that the Red
Majesty Cultivar Agreement was generating money
for the L.M.A. The "Red Majesty" cultivar
was developed by Mr. Billy Craft of Woodworth
with partial funding from the L.M.A.
Dr. Pyzner distributed handout material
provided by Roger Hinson that provided information
on mayhaw production budgets. This guidance is
especially helpful to persons planning their initial
mayhaw plantings.
President Leroy Cole presented the
L.M.A. Service Appreciation Award to Dr. Charlie
Graham. During his years at the Calhoun Station,
he provided technical information and support
to the L.M.A. He was a valuable friend and co-worker
for many years before being re-assigned to the
Shreveport area.
After lunch, President Leroy Cole
called the business meeting to order.
The Membership approved changes
to the By-laws and Constitution. The membership
fee was set at $15.00 per year and due by July
1st and the registered address was changed from
Colfax, LA to Jackson, LA.
Spec Sherrill, Treasurer of the
L.M.A. was elected president for the 2005 to 2007
term. Also elected to office were Dr. Arnold Baham,
Treasurer and three Board Members were re-elected.
Region 1 - Paul Scott of Homer
Region 3 - Murvin Mott of Pollock
Region 4 - J.J. Warner of Washington
Parish
The following officers, elected
by the Board to fill former vacancies, were ratified
by the membership:
Vice President - Charlie Hutchins
of Pollock
Secretary - Don Lord of Jackson
Board Member Region 4 - Jim Eaves
of Deridder
President-Elect Spec Sherrill thanked
the membership for electing him and discussed
issues he plans to address during his tenure.
He mentioned the problem of fire blight as a priority.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:30pm.
Mr. Sherrill conducted a grafting seminar at 1:45
and Mr. Elmer Langston hosted a field day program
at "Little Eden" north of Pollock.
