Small pear candy and nothing wrong with that 
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I wonder if the small size is just from a full fruit set. My seckel produced 4 pears its first year last year and they were all pretty large and seemed as big as the picture of yours on the paper plate. (Dont get me wrong they were small compared to a bartlett). I was very excited the two i ripened properly tasted excellent and it did not get any disease either!
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@tonyOmahaz5
That little yellow pear is not very tasty the first year or two it fruits but when you taste that heavenly flavor once it matures when its right its a shock! Its different from any other! Crossing it with seckel, warren, magness, harrow sweet or comice would make a pear so good it should be criminal to eat! Glad you liked the Drippin’ Honey and see what i see in them now. I really enjoy those as well and you can see why after eating them in recent years. Your a true pear lover Tony so you know good when you eat it!
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Had my first seckel pear last year from a farmers market. This week has been my grafting week. I was able to get scion from the same tree and add it to the kids tree house. It could be a pretty tasty tree house in a few years!
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You listed all my favorite pears in one sentence @clarkinks 
… You made me eager to taste that “little yellow pear”.
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@Ahmad we left a few of the best out eg.Bosc, Abate fetel etc. Are good when grown right and many others are reportedly very good eg. Clara Frijs, Citron de carmes, doctor desportes, fondante de moulins lille etc. . The small yellow pear ive tried hard to identify its origin and i feel im getting closer. I suspect i will have an answer in a couple of years otherwise if something happens to me i made sure other people are growing the small yellow pear and it will not be lost all together. I’m looking hard at pears grown in this group as possible siblings Canadian Pears Enie, Menie, Miney, Moe, Phileson
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I don’t have any pear trees, but a near by orchard have a bunch of varieties and that’s where I tasted the wonderful Seckel and Magness. Harrow Sweet and Comice come next to me. I have tasted Bosc from farmers market and it was good, but not up to home-grown fruit quality. One of the best varieties I tried, had similar skin to Bosc but was the same size as a Seckel; this was bought from a farmers market and it was imported from New Zealand (unfortunately, I don’t know it’s name). Apparently New Zealand has some great fruit varieties that we in USA, regretfully, don’t know much about…
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Another good one is Fondante De moullins Lille .
Tony
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@Ahmad
Bosc is not always a good pear, ive had many that were not but it can be exceptional when grown under good conditions Bosc deserves some love. The small yellow pear i have is not always at its peak every year but it is most years.
Its extremely difficult to pick at the right time. It reminds me a little of clapps favorite in that respect but harder to pick . The small yellow pear will not keep long or ship etc. but its very delicious and worth the effort! Lets hope in 2019 i find a better pear variety than i have grown so far Here comes the 2018 apple & pear harvest! and
Here comes the 2016 apple and Pear harvest!. I dont want to get further off the topic of seckel because it deserves alot of recognition for its wonderful flavor and disease tolerance. Everyone should grow at least 1 seckle tree.
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Seckel is a fantastic pear! Is everyone growing one yet? If you have not tried one once you taste this pear it will be in your orchard the next season.
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I love Seckels, but only have the Warden Seckel. Some sellers of scions don’t bother to distinguish.
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What a color! Mine aren’t that deep red
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I grafted the top of my Bartlett to Seckel last year. The graft took and is putting on a ton of growth. I even let two Seckel pears stay on and hopefully we can taste them this year.
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They must have a light year/heavy year thing going because this year my Seckel has very few fruit. Last year i was filling up boxes.
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@ltilton
All the pears i grow have a tendency to be a more red than normal color. I’m assuming sun or soil cause the temporary difference in coloration. @mamuang has brought that up before with harrow sweet and others being more red temporarily and changing colors as they ripen closer to normal.
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Does Seckel require refrigeration to ripen properly?
I have a couple of fruits from a graft made two years ago. I hope to finally taste a properly ripened Seckel after seeing all the good reviews, provided squirrels do not beat me to it.
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I too love Seckel and have a graft. This year only 5 on the branches but I’m afraid the squirrels who love my pears will get them. I’ve been having a lot of ‘guest’ dogs over to my house!
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Refrigeration is not necessary in my experience though many people do. We do refrigerate these type of pears sometimes to make them last longer. You might enjoy this article Petite Seckel pears seduce with their subtle flavor - oregonlive.com
" Petite Seckel pears seduce with their subtle flavor
Updated Oct 27, 2009;Posted Oct 27, 2009
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IN SEASON: In pairing them with other foods, restraint allows the fruit’s attributes to glow
Seckel’s flavor is more reticent than that of other pears, so don’t serve it with strong cheeses. The fruit’s lovely roasted and served with meats, or poached for dessert.
By PETE PETERSEN
Special to The Oregonian
My wife grows a yellow rose called Michelangelo, which has a scent that is lilting and subtle rather than a mallet to the forehead like some other varieties. Its beguiling restraint reminds me of Seckel pears, which have a delicate sweetness in their firm flesh.
This dessert fruit pairs deliciously with chocolate or young manchego cheese. The key is to choose partners that enhance the pear without overwhelming it. A Bartlett may be able to handle Rogue River Blue, but a Seckel would be smothered.
Diminutive Seckels are cute, like baby pears. But they shouldn’t be purchased as a mere ornament. The Seckel eats well out of hand and enjoys a bit of fuss and dressing up, too. Try them poached or roasted with white wine, honey and spices.
Look for:
The short, tubby fruit is 2 1/2 to 3 inches long and 1 1/2 to 2 inches in girth at its bell. The smooth skin is olive green with a glossy red blush that may cover nearly the entire pear. As the Seckel ripens, the olive-colored skin takes on a matte finish and the red darkens. Although the fruit is small, it grows on a robust, woody stem, which should be present on the pear when purchased. Be wary, in fact, of fruit without stems because decay will quickly set in where the interior is exposed to oxygen. The recessed blossom end puckers a bit but, since pears ripen from the inside out, that is of little consequence.
Check the neck to determine if the fruit is ready or gone by. Gently grasp the neck below the stem, making a circle with your thumb and forefinger. Exert gentle pressure to see if the fruit will yield slightly. Seckel pears eat best on the firm side. Refrain from pinching the fruit; unlike your sweetie’s cheek, the Seckel will bruise even when gently pinched.
Some chafing may be apparent where a pear has rubbed against other fruit on the tree. A few marks smaller than a pencil eraser are fine, but more than that, or blackened streaks, would move me to pass on that piece of fruit. Similarly, a softened surface or wizened stem ends are conditions that would prompt me to look for something else.
When:
Harvest is in mid-September with excellent fruit available into December. Most of the Seckel crop disappears from retail shelves by the new year because its small size makes long-term storage techniques too expensive.
To store:
The Seckel pear holds best in the coldest part of the fridge where, depending on how ripe it was at purchase, it will keep for two to seven days. To ripen it, leave it at room temperature for two to four days. But keep in mind you cannot ripen a Seckel pear and then stick it back in the fridge to hold for a few days. It will turn mushy almost at once.
Note, too, that condensation forms on fruit just out of the fridge, and moisture encourages decay. Piling cold fruit in a bowl increases its chance of rotting. Pull fruit out of storage only in amounts you will use.
Basic preparation:
In my experience, a cut Seckel does not immediately turn brown from oxidation. Still, if you want to be sure it won’t brown, you can brush the surface of the exposed flesh with a solution of 1 cup water to 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice. If you choose to dunk it in the lemon-water mixture, leave it in only 30 seconds or so. Water will do no favors for the texture of a pear’s flesh.
Try poaching half a dozen lightly peeled Seckels, stems on, in a small glass baking dish with a half cup each of water and late harvest Willamette Valley muscat wine mixed in the bottom. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes, basting three to four times. Remove to a warm plate, spoon a little pan juice over the pear and offer a dollop of vanilla bean ice cream alongside. Serve with a knife and fork. Pretty, pretty easy and pretty darn good.
Pete Petersen
is a Portland produce expert. Reach him at
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You guys are so great! Even though I am moving to France in Sept. remember you have a place to stay there and look and eat some amazing fruit!! I’m expecting you all!!! Mrs. G
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