My Taylor’s Gold has a mix of sizes, some that small, some pretty good size, not quite as big as grocery store. I picked 2/3 of them because some are starting to get eaten by wildlife. I’ve left some to see how they turn out relative to the earlier picked.
1 Like
It is from trucking lingo where a “refer” or “reefer” means a refrigerated storage container.
4 Likes
I noticed with my Abate Fetal pears they seem to have a short lifespan before getting way to ripe to eat- even when put in the fridge I am not sure if it is because the last two years we have had very long periods of high temps ( 90’ and 100’s for weeks at a time) with basically no clouds and direct sunlight, lack of rain( 30-40 days without rain, even before the 30-40 days getting rain of less than 1 tenth rain showers once in two week periods) and very high humidity. These last two years are the only times I have had an actual crop of these pears and more than one or two on the tree. They are delicious when ripe. All the people I have given some of these pears to have commented that they are the most delicious pears they have ever eaten.
My question to all those that grow this pear variety- is this a normal shelf life expectancy for the Abate Fetal pears?
1 Like
I have heard that with train cars now that you mention it. It just seems so silly with fridge right there
1 Like
I learned to use refer in the Navy when I was a flight surgeon. Like head for bathroom, etc. I do think about it when I use it. Maybe I should go to fridge or some other such name. Just easier than refrigerator.
2 Likes
Yes, railroad lingo too, I think.
1 Like
Mike, when I pick Abbe Fetel as soon as they will release with lifting and put them into the REFER, they seem to ripen very well in about a week when removed to the kitchen counter. For this past weekend’s tasting, the fruit were close to being perfectly ripe after about a week at room temperature. I have more out for our CRFG chapter’s annual apple/pear tasting event scheduled for Oct 12.
We can have an occasional very hot spell here but only for a few days. Most nights cool into the 50s. No summer rain, and my trees have a little drip irrigation.
1 Like
For those growing Comice and Taylor’s Gold please report on when you pick and eat the fruit.
Comice is usually picked when mature and will come off the tree easily, and then refrigerated for a few weeks before ripening. I picked all of my Comice, Taylor’s Gold and the other Comice clones on September 18 and 19. I probably won’t start ripening them for another few weeks, because we still have Jana’s Pear and Warrens remaining.
I do have two ripening now for our tasting this weekend - just to see how they fare.
1 Like
These are from a 3rd year mislabeled Ison’s tree, it was identified as a possible Kieffer by other members on the forum. They’re still as hard as rocks.
4 Likes
I’m not a Kieffer grower but it looks to like the photos I’ve seen.
2 Likes
Definately not long keepers. Abate fetel are good pears. Try large seckel. It is a very good pear. I think it is better than seckel. I have some that are shockingly good.
4 Likes
Left some Harrow Sweet on the tree to experiment with ripening on the tree. It’s now 3 weeks past when the rest were picked and the ones on the tree are still hard as rocks. I could swear I heard others say they would ripen on the tree. Is that not true?
1 Like
They will tree ripen, but your tree may be a little in the shade or you might have a slightly cooler location.
I have some Shenandoahs that were blown off of the tree by some hard winds a couple days ago. They did well this year.
For the first year ever, the Harrow sweet fruits are very subpar. It’s usually my favorite pear we get.
There was a fair amount of curculio damage this spring, I don’t know why but in our area they just absolutely love pears, more than anything else seemingly. Also we had a very wet summer with lots of oscillating temperature extremes. '50s for a week and wet, followed by '80s for and week and wet, and so on. As you can see the fruits failed to grow large, and cracked horrifically. Any ideas?
Our Red Clapps pears did pretty good, but we’ve eaten them all already.
3 Likes
The Shenandoahs should ripen well if chilled a few weeks. It is our favorite pear for tarts and pies because of its acidity.
Too bad about your Harrow Sweets. Did you have scab infection early? I can’t tell from the photos, but that is a major cause of cracking. It does appear that you have a lot of surface fungus. That and the fluctuating moisture and heat could have been contributing factors in the cracking, too.
4 Likes
Thank you David and Clark. The Abbe Fetal is a delicious pear I just want to have them last longer than when I have run into this year. I threw away about a dozen of them today because they were WAY to mushy. They were in the fridge the whole time after I picked them off the tree.
I started picking most of the Abbe Fetal pears around 3 weeks ago because of the high heat we had been having. Once they start getting a little soft they get really mushy 2 to 3 days later. So perhaps the shelf life is maybe, maybe two weeks before they need to have something done with them. Perhaps some pear butter. I’ve never made pear preserves before but I am not sure they would hold up to being a little chunky being cooked like that.
So is the two to three week expected life span before they become too mushy? I had them in the fridge and did not put them on the kitchen counter to ripen. They were getting soft just be being in the fridge.
1 Like
I don’t remember it on the pears, but it is quite possible. Some apple varieties were sure scabby this year. Thank you.
It sounds like you are waiting too long to pick the Abbe Fetels. Also, your refrigerator temperature may be too high. That said, I don’t know how climate factors play into the equation.
Here is what ChatGPT has to say and I think it is reasonably close to my experience:
"Abbé Fetel pears store fairly well, though not quite as long as late-season storage varieties like Bosc or Comice. Here’s a breakdown:
- Temperature: Keep them in the refer (refrigerator) at about 31–32°F (–0.5 to 0°C) with high humidity (90–95%).
- Storage life:
- At 31–32°F, they’ll typically store 2 to 2½ months.
- At 38–40°F (normal refrigerator temperature), expect about 4 to 6 weeks before noticeable softening and flavor decline.
They should be picked mature but still firm—before they start softening on the tree."
1 Like
My Easter Beurre/Doyenne d’Hiver pears are not ready to come off the tree yet, but there is a freeze warning for tonight. Temps are supposed to get down to 30F. Will this be a problem? This is my first fruiting for this variety so I’m in learning curve mode. My other late picking pear which I haven’t been able to identify has historically not had a problem with such freezes, so I might be worrying about nothing.
IME, down to 28F is zero issue and down to 25F for most storage varieties won’t cause any problems.
3 Likes