pear harvest

Lazy Gardener

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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.
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".

If I had room for more fruit trees, I'd be scouring the landscape for wild apple trees that seem to be disease and insect resistant, and harvest seeds from them, or do some air layering of those trees, and harvest the air layered plant to use as my root stock for an orchard start up.
 

Daisy

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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.

Yes I agree. I tend to pick mine when hard as if they are left to get ripe and softer, they drop off the tree! I also dont mind a diced crisp pears in salads, goes lovely with rocket. I put them in hot self saucing pudding before they ripe and they seem to melt into it beautifully. Pears are such a versatile fruit.

I will have to prune my tree this week as its trained to a frame and it needs to stay within the bird netting.
 

flowerbug

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i like pears green or fully juicy and soft. if they're not edible in whole they can be juiced and that is good too.
 

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