So I’m probably risking fate by mentioning it, but we seem to have fewer squirrels this year and I may get some Asian pears. Since they have previously all been just squirrel food and taken well before ripe, I really don’t know when to expect them. Can anyone near me give me the ripening order and the dates yours are ripe for the following in our region?
Hosui
Twentieth Century
Shinseiki
Chojuro
Dripping Honey
Korean Giant
Thanks!
Shinseiki- Late august to early september
Chojuro- Mid september
KG- Late september to early october
Hosui I grafted over a long time ago, but I’m pretty sure it was early to mid september. My TC died before fruiting, but thinking it’s mid september. DH has not fruited for me yet. Get some flashing to wrap your trunks with. Been working good for me.
I wish I could make that work, but all my stuff it interplanted or just too close to other things they can jump from. I was just checking the trees and saw 4 half eaten pears on the ground, so it looks like I did jinx myself…
Is there a really early Asian pear you like. I always do better with early varieties, since the squirrels don’t really start destroying stuff until July most years. I’ve gone a nice MonArk apple tree that I’ve been able to get a good harvest from and most of my Kerr crabapples are still hanging on and getting close to ripe.
Walter,
Yours should ripen a couple weeks ahead of mine being further south and having that urban heat island effect.
Shinsui ripens the earliest for me, last week of July through first week of August. The birds are already starting to peck some right now.
Hosui ripens first week of August through the first week of September.
Chojuro: last week of August through middle of September. Some are edible a week prior but don’t have that golden brown color which normally indicates most flavor.
Dripping Honey: first week of September through last week of September. The texture does start to soften and the flavor does change somewhat the longer it hangs.
Shin Li: last week of September into November if the animals leave them alone. The flavor changes to some more tropical, guava like overtones the longer it hangs.
Korean Giant: very end of September through first couple weeks of October. This one will soften somewhat the longer it hangs and loses its crisp.
Fortunately or not, they don’t all ripen at the same time on the same tree so the harvest is always staggered with a few everyday.
Ichi Ban is the earliest that I have. July ripening. I can give you some sticks over the winter if you want. Shinseiki is considered early and I really like it because it’s different than the average asian. I juiced a bunch of them last year and it was unbelievable how sweet the juice was.
Thank you @Robert and @PharmerDrewee! Great info. Unfortunately it sounds like my earliest might be Hosui and that probably is at least a couple weeks to a month off … hopefully the squirrels don’t get them all between now and then. Oddly the critters seem to be going for the pears before the peaches even though previous years they cleaned out the peaches first.
Deer are also eating my figs, both leaves and the very unripe green figs. I definitely need to move to the country to put up an 8 foot fence, a hot wire, etc.
For me the early ones are more prone to rots, so I took out my Shinsui. Its a great pear in all other respects.
This is a new problem for me also. I’ve grown figs for years and deer never touched them. Now all of the sudden they have decided they love them and are in total destruction mode. Is that ultra sticky sap not gluing their mouths shut?
Right after reading this I looked my back window and saw a deer in my backyard noshing on my figs. Here is the one she nipped off right before I chased her off. Grrr.
I think during last year’s drought the were so hungry they sampled other things they didn’t normally eat and now it is on the regular.
This is sad, I’m sorry. There are a lot of figs in my neighborhood that I’ve never seen deer-pruned. I wonder if that will start to change.
