Hi, first time poster and pear novice. My neighbors tree has never grown pears before, he lived in the house for 7 years. This year there are several small cue ball sized pears. I was wondering if they are edible/usable and when to pick them? I’ve included some pictures for reference)
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You are in a warm zone. Please let us know what state you are in?
When it come to southern pears, someone like, @coolmantoole comes to mind.
Hopefully, he can chime in to help you.
I’m in San Diego, California. This tree is on a sidewalk strip.
Welcome, Jeff. In San Diego, most pears commonly grown in California would have already ripened, except maybe ‘Winter Nelis’ and ‘Packham’s Triumph’ and it does not really look like either of those from the pictures.
Being planted in the sidewalk strip is consistent with the tree being intended as an ornamental and something having gone awry. Did your neighbor plant any other fruiting pear trees? Many pears require another (different) tree for pollenization and if there are other pears, it’s more consistent with your tree being something we can identify. If it was intentionally planted as a fruit tree, it also will have been grafted and you should see at the base a place where it looks like there is a change in bark as if two different trees came together. If it’s not a grafted tree, it is not a named variety. With that said, it could still be edible/usable, just a random wild pear. Pick one, cut it open from the stem down and report back on the texture of it and color of the seeds.