Did not know this, very interesting. So do you eat Warren, Magness, Potomac right off the tree?
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Yes the early ripening ones we eat while on the tree! The majority we do not. We pick them and bring them inside to ripen up. The number one most loved pear in the world is a bartlett aka williams. Many of us dont feel that same way. Because of the love the world has for bartlett the entire harrow pear program was mostly about making a better bartlett. Not everyone loves bartlett some people prefer anjou or comice. Various programs focus on developing a better pear of the type the world loves most.
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What’s the process from that point? What do you do with them? Not trying to be funny, I’m interested. Pears are tricky and I have a lot of the harder to ripen ones.
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In our case we process them, sell them, give them away , barter them, or refrigerate them.
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That’s pretty much what I’m trying to do. At the farmers market. I found myself having to graft over a ton of trees so that the people buying them would be able to easily ripen them. Hence all the new Harrows. Ease of ripening should be something every breeder focuses on.
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@clarkinks have you ever compared HD with Seckel? I am in zone 4b, so I am concerned that it may be too cold here for a good HD based on what everyone is saying. So I may get Seckel (or both) instead.
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Seckle is a good pear but there is not much of it. They are very small. Think if i were you i would go with harrow sweet over either one in a colder zone.