• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Home Garden Joy
  • Home
  • How to Garden
    • Garden Pests
    • Plant Diseases
    • Plant Profiles
    • Raised Bed Gardening
    • Seed Starting
    • Tools & Equipment
  • Vegetables
  • Fruit
  • Herbs
  • About
    • Books & Classes
      • Herbalism Classes
      • Books for Christian Herbalists
      • Privacy Policy

Mistletoe Hunting

December 7, 2009 by Jeanne

Yesterday afternoon after church, I went over to my friend Patty’s farm for a visit. After coffee and watching a bit of the football game together, I rose to leave. “Do you want some mistletoe?” she asked.

“You have some?” I was delighted. I love mistletoe, but other than the fake stuff, I’ve only seen the living mistletoe plant once or twice.

“Yes,” she said. “It grows all over our oak trees. Come on.”

Her husband, Ron was in the doorway. He grabbed his riffle and after a brief discussion about ammunition and passing some boxes back and forth with Patty, we put on our coats and trooped out onto the muddy farm road. I had no idea why Ron had the riffle. I thought he was going deer hunting.

We walked down their farm road and stopped under a huge old oak tree next to the new workshop building they’d just put up. There was a mature holly bush near the base of the oak, covered with red berries, as if to underscore that it was the Christmas season and here we were picking mistletoe. I looked around, but didn’t see anything that looked like the little plastic mistletoe my mom hung near the front door. “Where is it?” I asked.

Ron pointed up into the oak. “There.”

High up in the boughs of the old oak tree was what I at first took to be a cluster of leaves. Then I realized it was mistletoe! It looked at first like leaves that hadn’t fallen to the ground, or perhaps an odd kind of Spanish moss, the kind I’ve seen growing off the oaks in Louisiana.

Ron carefully took aim with his riffle and fired. Mistletoe boughs rained down on us.

Patty scooped them up, pushed them into a zip lock bag, and I was on my way home.

I’ve never hunted wild mistletoe before!

Thanks guys…that was quite the adventure. And Ron is quite the shot…

Filed Under: Home Garden Tips

Previous Post: « Micro Micro Climates
Next Post: The Shepherd’s Secret »

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. About the Mistletoe Plant - Home Garden Joy says:
    December 19, 2018 at

    […] a beautiful sight. I first saw mistletoe here in Virginia when neighbors pointed it out to me (and shot some down from the tree!). Today on the High Bridge Trail, I found a beautiful grove of mistletoe and […]

Primary Sidebar

Let’s Connect!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

As Seen in Porch

 As Seen in Porch

We were featured in Porch.com and answered reader's questions about indoor plants.

Explore All Gardening Articles

Latest Articles

  • Sunscald on Tomatoes: What It Is and How to Prevent It
  • Herbal Profile: Growing Calendula
  • Battling Anthracnose: A Cucumber Grower’s Guide to a Sneaky Fungal Foe

Herbalism Classes & Supplies

Goods Shop by Herbal Academy – botanically inspired products

Disclosure

Home Garden Joy participates in two affiliate programs: Amazon and The Herbal Academy. Home Garden Joy earns a commission from qualifying purchases as an Amazon Associate. As an Herbal Academy Associate, HGJ also earns a commission when you sign up for classes or purchase herbs or supplies from The Herbal Academy. Herbal information and recipes on this site are provided for educational purposes only.

Footer

a close up of a cucumber leaf with anthracnose

Battling Anthracnose: A Cucumber Grower’s Guide to a Sneaky Fungal Foe

If you’ve ever stepped into your garden and noticed strange brown spots or sunken blemishes on your cucumbers, you might be facing a common but troublesome fungal disease known as anthracnose. Caused by Colletotrichum orbiculare, anthracnose thrives in warm, humid conditions and can quickly spread across your crop if not addressed early. This year in…

Read More

cucumbers and tomatoes in harvest basket

How to Grow Cucumbers: A Complete Guide

Learn how to grow cucumbers in this complete guide. I’ve grown cucumbers my entire life, and I still marvel at the prices of them at the supermarket. I can only imagine that we’re all paying for the transportation, for cucumbers are some of the easiest vegetables to grow. In fact, you may find yourself muttering,…

Read More

small round eggplant

Growing Eggplant: A Guide for Gardeners

Growing eggplant (a small garden devoted to fresh, seasonal edibles) is relatively easy in zone 7, where I garden, but combating the bugs is another story. Growing epplant in pots, containers, raised beds, or garden soil is all possible if you are willing to go the extra mile to control its nemesis, the Colorado potato…

Read More

cherry tomatoes in various stages of ripeness

Volunteer Plants – Nature’s Unexpected Gifts

Volunteer plants are one of nature’s most delightful surprises. They spring up unbidden, often in places we didn’t expect—cracks in sidewalks, corners of compost piles, or nestled beside a stone foundation, like the vibrant coleus seedlings growing near my deck shown in these pictures. These botanical freeloaders aren’t weeds; they’re plants that have reseeded themselves…

Read More

  • Privacy Policy
  • About
  • Awards

Copyright © 2025 Home Garden Joy on the Foodie Pro Theme