Those are outdoors planted in-ground. They took about 7 yrs to first bloom. I’ve not had many pears due to spring freezes and alternate bearing. More Bosc this yr, about 24, than all other yrs combined.
yeah…and damned if it doesn’t sound good too. Recipe to share?
Scott,
I have tried a chilling period in the fridge for the pears I grow (just about every year I store some in the fridge) and simply haven’t seen a difference that I’ve been able to discern. I don’t grow some of those antique varieties you grow, so maybe that’s the difference. Or maybe I’m not the pear connoisseur you and others who are chiming in.
Originally I used to advise customers to refrigerate pears before counter ripening, but as I couldn’t tell the difference between the two, I now tell customers to just counter ripen them. I had another customer just yesterday who commented on how good the last pears were.
Ok appleseed not a recipe but hopefully this will be close. I peeled and cored enough pears to fill a large saute pan. I cooked them over medium heat with a little apple juice and honey until soft. Then I added the almonds. Maybe another ten in the pan. Then I blended the whole mix. Then I put the mix back in the saute pan for thirty minutes or so. Then it got canned. Delicious. I remember it was amazing on a biscuit and also as an anoitment for smoked pork tenderloin. Hope that helps. I’m half cajun and we aren’t good at recipe’s for sure!
Olpea, aren’t you talking primarily about Harrow Sweet? I know that one does very well even off the tree.
Alan,
I don’t grow very many different pear varieties, only four. Harrow Delight, Green Jade, Bartlett, and Harrow Sweet. (I’ve just added Harvest Queen). I’ve not noticed any difference b/t counter ripening and refrigeration from Harrow Delight, Bartlett and Harrow Sweet. Green Jade I haven’t tried refrigerating. Perhaps if I had different varieties I would notice a difference. I’ll note that Harrow Delight was bred to be like a Bartlett in terms of flavor, so maybe with Bartlett type pears it doesn’t make the difference that it does with other varieties.
Olpea thus is exactly what I have always heard. That summer pears like Bartlett don’t need refrigerator time. This is only hearsay since I haven’t really been able to grow many Bartlett types.
Fruitnut have you ever thought about growing pears in your greenhouse?
Yes but not seriously. They do OK outside compared to all the early blooming stuff that freezes out most yrs. So far I’ve not had fire blight outside. The greenhouse would cure that issue 100% for anyone suffering fb.
I think they’d do well inside but maybe not at the water deficit that I like to run for stone fruit.
Did apples once inside and I wasn’t impressed but again probably not enough water.
I am sad to say that I picked my Harrow Sweet pear too early.
Sliced it open yesterday. Very hard texture. Under-developed. No juice or flavor; insipid.
I picked it too soon. It never had a chance to ripen into anything. It’s all my fault.
Oh well. Live and learn. I’ll know better for next year…
Harrow Sweet ripens unevenly for me. I can actually wait until they begin dropping to harvest and the majority in the tree will still be green and immature enough to pick and store. Pears are very tough, but I even have trouble with some varieties of apples. I’m thinking about entering the starch test into the equation.
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Sorry to hear that, Matt.
I picked two of my HS last week. The other two were still greener then. They will be picked this weekend.
This was what it looked like when I picked it.
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Is harrow sweet supposed to ripen on the tree? If not it may just need a few more days on the counter to ripen up.
I picked it weeks ago and gave it plenty of time to ripen both in the refrigerator and on the counter. It was simply under-developed.
I maintains good quality if ripened on the tree here, probably not so much in longer seasons where it would occur under hotter sun- but I don’t know. If you ripen them on the tree you have to use them up quickly.
I will keep one on the tree to fully ripen to see how it tastes off the tree without refrigeration.
I picked a tree-ripened HS yesterday, left it on a kitchen counter overnight. Today, I decided to eat it.
It was very sweet. I measured brix a few times, it was between 18-20. A lot sweeter than my Korean (brix @13, but tastes sweeter than the brix indicated)
To me, HS can be eaten off the tree.
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If I waited for the fruit to ripen on the tree, half would end up on the ground. But I agree, the fruit needs no conditioning in a fridge or through indoor ripening to achieve best quality and some of its fruit will ripen perfectly on the tree before dropping. It is the easiest, best pear I grow.
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Scott,
You get any Winter Nelis pears to form this year?
Matt, I did but the squirrels cleaned them out. I cleared some trees around and and hope the improved light will make it decide to fruit. I was recently reading up on it in Pears of New York and while it is known for its oddball growth it usually fruits incredibly well. So for my tree it may have more to do with the lack of sun.
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