These trees were purchased as Bartlett & Moonglow. For years the deer have enjoyed them, so this year I decided to fence them out & preserve a few for myself. I do not know if I need to chill them or lay out to ripen at room temp. They are now ready to pick…in October… so I do not believe they are the variety I purchased. Hopefully you can help to identify them from these pictures. (As a newbie I can only post 1 pic…I will post more when able)
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Im using a smart phone but they look like Duchesse d’Angoulême. Here are Duchesse d’Angoulême photos Largest / Best tasting pear - #24 by clarkinks . The time and the size and partial russeting look like Duchess. I would not rule out kieffer etc. There are very few pears this late on the 4th of October in zone 6a. Do any have what appear to be stretch marks?
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The one may be a bartlett. I have moonglow and they look nothing like those. I would put in the fridge.
If there are no stretch marks i would say they could be kieffer. Do you have pictures of the trees and better pictures of the leaves?
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I have an orient that is just getting ready to pic this week. Mine are still pretty green but the shape is identical. I picked about 40 off the same tree last year, its first year bearing, and they all ripened nice. I dried them as pear chips.
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My guess is Kieffer.
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I would be really surprised if one was bartlett. I grow bartlett in SE WI and mine always ripen around Sept 10-15th every year.
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The duchess d’ angoulme pear has unusual stretch marks or lumps & bumps from rapid growth. A friend of mine who passed away got my scions from the tree that produced this 2 pound + duchess pear!!! They can get really big! That was my friend holding that pear.
These are ones i grew
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After looking at the closeup picture of Duchesse d’Angoulême, I do think both trees could be this. Why would one tree start ripening first though when they are next to each other? I have been canning them since they first fell, but am not impressed with the taste. I have tried to lay them out (some for 2 weeks) others I chilled for a few days first. I wish I had researched the variety before they were ready to pick. I have read they might need 2-3 weeks chilled?
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Looks like duchess to me they are a canning pear in my area. They are not a bad pear just not impressive in anyway to me besides size and ease to grow.
Washington State Extension was advising that the later the pear, the longer the pre-chill requirement, and there were advising to pre-chill the late-season Anjou pears for something like a couple months at subfreezing – 30 degrees?
That recommendation apparently went down the Memory Hole at the Ministry of Truth when they said, “Hey, growers are getting good results with pre-chill at warmers temperatures for a shorter time.”
It used to be that I threw out my Anjou pears because I could never figure out how to ripen those billiard balls. Last year, I brought in my Anjou pears from Northeast Wisconsin, Door County and put them in the cool garage. They were ripening so fast after 2 weeks in there that I could hardly keep up eating them, and they were sweet and juicy as an Anjou should.
No rules! Try different things and record what works.