Boy is that review fluffy. It did not receive a patent because of its exceptional quality… all you need to do is spend the money and you can patent any seedling, as I understand it. Many Red Delicious sports have been patented even though they weren’t especially flavorful just because the patenter believed there was profit in an ever redder Delicious, whether it tasted like cardboard or not.
The pears in the photos that are in your hand are not at all giant, which makes me wonder more. Have you ever harvested one that weighed a pound?
I believe that a review just done by you would be more useful than all that hype. A round pear that looks like an apple is pretty common really, as it describes the majority of Asian pears grown here and Asian pears usually fool the non-initiated into thinking it is an apple-pear cross. However, none of the Asian pears I’ve grown ever ripen into smooth, soft, juicy fruit. They are crunchy fruit, but many Euro pears can be eaten crunchy… I prefer a crunchy Bartlett than to a softened one. Most pears you harvest hard and soften them in storage, of course.
Based on your review I am interested in the pear, but if I only read the original write up I would have dismissed it.
I’m growing Turnbull but the squirrels have stolen the handful of fruit my young tree has produced so far. So I should be able to compare it directly to Elaine at some point. From the pictures, they have a similar large round shape, but I wouldn’t say that Elaine has a unique flavor like the one ascribed to Turnbull.
Yes most Turnbull are 1/2 pound to 3/4 of a pound in my experience. That is still a large pear. Turnbull Giant are not small they can reach a pound easily if thinned. Like duchess d’ angoulme they are given to heavy production which can make them smaller. Look at these monster korean giant that were not thinned below i.just picked. The benefit of turnbull is the unique taste and ease of growing them spray free. If you want huge pears grow these Korean giants in the photos below.
I keep going back and forth on if I should grow Turnbull or not.
I’m not a big fan of Asian “crisp when ripe” pears, but my kids like them, so I’m growing Korean Giant and Drippin’ Honey (Honey Asian) just for them. maybe I’ll like Asian pears more when they are grown in my backyard and not coming out of the supermarket.
As far as being a crisp when ripe hybrid, Turnbull sounds like it has a lot going for it as far as pest/disease resistance and size. It is also quince compatible, so maybe I’ll get fruit within the first 3 or so years after planting.
As far as flavor, I’ve seen 2 main descriptions. either a taste like lemonade, or a taste like a mix of Bartlett Pear and Golden delicious apple. If my kids don’t like it, and I don’t like it, I wonder if it would serve as a good substitute for apples in recipes, given it might have more of a tart apple like flavor. that’s the main thing that peaks my interest, as I am a no-spray grower and I steer clear of apples due to disease and pest issues in my area/climate.
Does it make a good apple substitute for cooking/processing?
I was curious about growth in the NC Piedmont and whether it needed a pollinator. SE Pears has a little commentary. It says it is reportedly self-fertile (other disagree), and has some less encouraging flavor comments.
Imagine a pear pie some added lemon and apple to it already and thats sorta the taste. I dont think you will have pollination problems with so many pears around. Ornamental pears even work as pollinators. If it was a hard to pollinate tree like warren i would not say that. Turnbull is heavy with fruit , which typically means it is partially self pollinating in my experience.
There was one seed inside the turnbull pear I got from Cliff England last fall. He said he was pretty sure it was self pollinated as pretty much everything else got nuked by a late frost. It germinated and is growing strongly!
This was my favorite pear I tried at @KYnuttrees ’s orchard last year. Absolutely delicious. I am going to order a scion of this pear from @39thparallel.
I’ll have to stop reading this kind of post until scion season is over. It’s a bit to late on this one just ordered a Turnbull scion with plans to graft to a 3” wild Calgary pear.
I ordered a scion of Turnbull. And forgot I did and ordered another from somewhere else. So I’m probably going to stick one on the Quince rootstock I repeatedly failed to graft to in the Spring and just let grow all year along with one on the x87 I bought for it.
Is the sharpness similar to Potomac? Or Shenandoah? Whichever of the two has some acidity to it. I tried a couple of those I found at a farmer’s market and really enjoyed them.
Alright I’m in on the Turnbull. Just ordered some scion from 39th Parallel. I like the idea of a different more acidic flavor. Last order of the season I swear. This year I’m also getting Chojuro and Shinko bare root trees (from Roots to Fruits nursery), Harrow Sweet scionwood (Cricket Hill Garden), Bartlett and Moonglow scionwood (from Burnt Ridge). This will finish the fruit tree perimeter around my backyard…at least for now.
