I use an old broomstick and attach to the end an empty plastic beverage bottle. Before attaching bottle, make a slit about three to four inches long on long dimension. Round the plastic at the “entrance” slit to make picking easier. Attach bottle to pole you can use small hose clamp .Or pad the bottle opening to make a tight fit, tape or staple opening to pole. You’ll see how best to attach things together when you have a long pole and a large plastic bottle. Use a twisting motion once you have captured the fruit in the bottle. A ripe fruit will usually fall right in.
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Not fireblight resistant and very delayed in fruiting in my experience. It is also very high quality.
Thank you for that great idea. I always love to know how to make something out of things I already have, especially when the thing you bought for the job inevitably breaks!
Glad you’re feeling better!
Just had one of your Warren pears for lunch. Delicious.
Thanks again for hosting such a nice visit.
Glad you liked the Warren. It can be best! Jana and I enjoyed meeting you and Annie. I hope your visit to Gualala was also enjoyable.
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That is a great idea. Maybe add a little padding along the cut edge of the plastic in case you have to scrape against other fruit. I’m thinking of the plastic insulation that one places over water pipes to prevent freezing or help hot water stay hot in pipes.
I have wood of most of those except Lucious. - Nye Russet Bartlett rather than the original.
Thanks Mayhaw, I have Nye Russett grafted this past spring. I may already have an original Bartlett though I need to see the parent tree fruit again next spring to be sure. The rest are open so would love to do a trade. I have Bell down as one you would like.
Harrow crisp were picked 3rd week of Aug. and were put in fridge. I sampled one in its crisp phase, OK. Not that great or as good as green jade off the tree.
After a couple weeks these were set out to ripen. I like them a lot more when ripened and must say are better than store bought bartletts . My wife agrees and thinks they are awesome.
Green Jade and HC are very similar, with GJ ready 10 days earlier also ripening to a luscious bartlett type of flavor. Both are winners for that labor day tourist rush.
On Sunday 9/15/2024 a friend came here to help pick the remaining Magness and start picking Potomac. She also picked a few remaining Honeysweet that I had not picked. Later, another friend came and finished picking the Potomac tree. I still have a few fruit on a graft.
Yesterday, 9/17/2024, I picked Beurre Hardy (probably a little late), the first picking of Elliot, the first picking of Leopardo Morettini and all of the Onward fruit…
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Onward
GRIN Narrative:
Raised in 1947 at National Fruit Trials, Wisley, Surrey from Laxton’s Superb x Doyenne du Comice and named in 1967. Fruit medium, short pyriform to round conic; skin light green becoming yellow-green, often with pink blush; russeted at the stem and eye. Flesh creamy white, melting, very fine, juicy, sweet rich flavor with balancing acidity. Excellent Quality!
Here is a link to last year’s photo - Pear harvest 2023 - #187 by Richard
Fruit are even larger this year.
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Today, 9/18/2024, I picked Elliot from an established tree graft. These fruit are more shaded by foliage and are not as russetted. I’ll try to show that tomorrow with photos.
I also picked more Abbe Fetel. Not all are ready yet.
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Here is another pear that is new to my threads - Gem. I picked several a couple of weeks ago and the remainder on Sept. 16. This is a good crunchy sweet fruit directly off the tree but will store and soften after chilling. I’m not going to try that this year. My refrigerator is full! My tree was purchased from Cummings Nursery in 2017 grafted on OHxF87 and has not grown well. Most likely a combination of not enough ferrtilizer, water and room. It finally had a fair crop of beautiful pears this year.
Narrative:
Gem was released in 2014. Gem is ideal for the fresh market, combining high yields with excellent appearance, fruit quality, long storage potential and is resistant to fire blight.
Gem requires at least 3 weeks of cold storage before normal fruit softening, but it will last for at least 28 weeks in cold storage without core breakdown or superficial scald. The fruit can also be eaten immediately after harvest without softening as it has a crisp, juicy texture. Its flavor is sweet and mildly aromatic.
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I picked Elliot this week. I have fruit on a graft that is more shaded by dense foliage so the fruit is not as russeted. Here is a photo comparing the fruit grown with more direct sunlight on the left with a blush and russet and the more shaded one on the right. This cultivar has been discussed on other threads and a photo from 8/28/2023 was posted on the 2023 Pear Harvest thread.
2023 photo:
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Got some pears off our Harrow Sweet tree, it’s our first harvest off this 7 year old tree. Some had fallen, but a few were still on the tree, we got 4 of them.
Not very big, but they live up to their name, pretty sweet for a pear, not as gritty as the pears off our 30ft tall tree. Those are much bigger, but still pretty hard and gritty. I still don’t know what variety it is, but I’m guessing it’s maybe a Kiefer.
Anyways here’s some pics of the HS:
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Those look more like Korean Giant this time of year. If so they are wonderful tasting.
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That’s what I was thinking… kind of late. If thats what it takes to get them too ripen up… very sweet. Not bad for an untended tree at a rental
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Today I picked Shenandoah and one Taylor’s Gold on a small tree. Taylor’s Gold had a huge crop on three different grafts last year. It is taking a year off. Shenandoah has a good amount of acid so makes a great cooking pear for pies and tarts.
I also noticed a Dana Hovey on the ground and they released easily when lifted so I think they were ready to pick. It is a couple of weeks early for them. I hope they will ripen properly. I didn’t photograph Dana’s last year. I’ll do so tomorrow.
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How close does Taylor’s Gold resemble the taste of Comice? Does it need fridge time? I was thinking of adding it as part of my Comice collection, but I’m at the point of needing a couple of fridges now.