I think a lot of people don’t know how to eat European pears. If you let them get melting and buttery they’re great. If you try to eat a hard Anjou you won’t have a great time.
@fruitnut Shenandoah is supposed to have a bit of acidity to it. There’s a small Chinese pear about Seckel-sized, but round, that’s sweet-tart with a slightly tannic/astringent pineapple or white wine like flavor. Usually yellow with slight to almost completely red blush. I can’t remember the name at all at the moment, but somebody here was growing it. “The Comice of Chinese pears” or something. The ones I had were good, but also $14/lb, so I didn’t buy many. I saved seeds from a couple.
I don’t think so. I live in the Hudson valley and every fall tons of people come here to go apple picking. Though you can go pear picking it is nowhere as popular.
Ironically pears are much much easier to grow. At least for Asian pears they’re pretty easy to grow organically. For apples spraying is necessary at least for older varieties
I will take a good Magness, Seckel or Comice any time over any apple. I think apples’ popularity is in great part due to the fact that they can be grown in most states more easily, and in general they store much better. People’s first choice for a fruit to grow will be based on familiarity, and perhaps nostalgia to grand pa’s fruit tree. It always astonishes me that some (or maybe many) of the forum members grow peaches but not nectarines, though nectarines are way better in eating quality, I think it is again due to familiarity and relative ease of growing.
It has a Chinese name and is a cultivar grown in some province there for a really long time. My Chinese language knowledge doesn’t extend much beyond knowing “Li” is pear in Chinese. I realized I did actually take a picture of it:
You need to visit me during harvest season , or even better, visit fruitnut. Unless you grow it yourself, under the right conditions, and the right cultivars, you can’t make a good judgement. Stuff you buy from markets or even pick-your-own orchards is mostly subpar.
A few peaches can reach the quality of top nectarines, under the right growing conditions. However, most top quality nectarines cannot be matched by peaches.
got a bag of anjous from costco. says to wait for the neck to give a little before eating. is that still too hard and they need to be mostly soft/giving?
Anjou can go from just right to too soft and ruined in just 1 day. Try one when just getting soft and another after 2 more days and you will understand.
The ag extension here recommends pears over apples because they are easier to grow here so I ended up planting 5 pear trees and no apple trees. I still buy apples from the store though.
I’m 100% no spray using organic basic fertilizer plus IPM. I have every fruit that can be grown in Z5 NH and many cultivars of each. So far, sooty blotch and occasional scab on apples, plum curculio is my major pest and SWD varies. Couldn’t sell anything based on presentation but it’s free of pesticides and herbicides.
I did not either. Got to see them make it first. Why I give them a bit of auxin in the soil. Get roots.
When I get back home there is one more bag of off pears. Vickers of Winkers types and perry pears. Guess I will whittle and dip those too. See if those will start.
Today is a sad day. My 9 year old grandson came to visit and noticed my Kieffer pear tree had about a dozen immature pears. He pulled the tree over sideways and filled his pockets which of course means I won’t get to sample ripe pears a few months from now. When I saw the damage, I was both angry and frustrated, but took the moment to show him how to care for a pear tree. We drove in a stake and tied the tree back vertical then walked around my yard and “touched” about 50 pear trees while talking about how good they are when fully ripe. I named varieties while he helped count immature pears on the trees that have a crop for the first time. We looked at newly grafted pear trees with only a few inches of growth as well as trees grafted 5 years ago that are nearing 20 feet tall. He apologized for “hurting” my tree. I’m certain he will know to wait going forward. Take time to talk to kids about fruit and trees and their care!
Ah. That was sweet of him. But it is an important chance for his learning.
I have my grand daughters out most days helping with the growing stuff. The 6 year old I have to watch. See will break leaves and such.
The last few weeks the frogs and toads have them sidetracked. And sunday they learned the snakes eat them…lol They picked up a Garter snake with a toad in his mouth.
, or even better, visit fruitnut. Unless you grow it yourself, under the right conditions, and the right cultivars, you can’t make a good judgement. Stuff you buy from markets or even pick-your-own orchards is mostly subpar.
