Lazy Gardener
Super Self-Sufficient
If you're getting "a few" pears now, you can expect to have bumper crops in the future!
If you're up for a fun little challenge, and don't mind waiting an extra year or two for the bounty: You can buy a seedling or root stock pear from a reputable company. I use St. Lawrence Nursery in NY or Fedco Trees right here in Maine. Then, you can graft onto that. Or even more of an "I did it myself" challenge: start some pear trees from seeds harvested from grocer fruit. Grow them on in your garden for a couple of years, then use them as your root stock. Grafting is a fun project, and a great one to have in your "gardener's bag of 'know how' tools".No pears here; I'd like to plant one. We have a peach tree that died and came back from below the graft joint, so I have no idea what is there, although I know it was supposed to be a dwarf. The leaves look like peach, but it's about 4 years old and never had a blossom.
I was told that it's best to pick pears while they are still hard, as they are one of the very few fruits that continues to ripen off the tree. If you leave them on the tree you risk getting hard woody spots, but if you pick them just a little underripe they develop that wonderful buttery texture.