Picking Pears

Years ago there was a thriving orchard on our homestead.  That was before the years of neglect came along, and way before we ever moved in. Most of those fruit trees have died out, all except one large Comice pear tree in the front yard.  It not only survived, but it's healthy, happy, and very productive.

Here it is in bloom in early Spring.  We've been slowly pruning it back the last few winters, but you can see we still have a lot of work to do on it.  Even so, it doesn't seem at all bothered by the sucker branches reaching for the sky.  It's produced buckets of pears every year we've been here no matter what we do or don't do to it.  I like trees like that. 

After the blooms fade the little green pears begin to form, and by mid-summer they've really taken on their shape.  About this time, a rosy blush starts to appear on the sunny side of each pear.  That's when I really start to notice how loaded the tree is.  Especially when I'm sitting in my lounge chair beneath the tree and a ornery squirrel tosses one down on my head!  They do that. 

Pretty soon late August rolls around, the pears start falling on their own, and every bird we own starts hanging out beneath the tree looking for a snack.  That's my cue to grab the baskets and the ladder and climb up the tree. 

Hey, check out my comfrey growing around the trunk of the tree.  It's supposed to be a great companion plant for fruit trees, but it seems to be the one who's benefiting.  It's gotten huge! 
Ok, back to the pears...

Before I go crazy tossing pears in the baskets, I test a few just to make sure they're ready.  Pears can be deceiving, so the timing has to be perfect when you pick them if you want quality fruit.  Here's what to look for:  the pear stem easily breaks off the branch when the pear is handled, the base of the fruit is firm when gently pressed on, and the pears are light-green with a side blush.  See the yellow one with brown splotches (2nd from left)?  It's over-ripe.

Pears ripen from the inside out, so if the fruit is slightly soft on the outside, it's very ripe inside and needs to be eaten immediately.  My son is happy to help out there.  Any pears that are just plain mushy go to the pig, who's also happy to help out.

We climb as far up in the tree as we can to hand pick the best pears.  Those will be the ones we store long-term.  Any that fall to the ground and get blemished go in a separate basket to be stored short-term or be made into pearbutter.  Mmmm...pearbutter.

It never fails.  I always forget to take a basket with me when I climb the ladder.  Glad I wasn't naked, 'cause my shirt came in handy.  Works out sometimes.

See anything different in this photo?  Look at him eying the pears up on the branches.  He's such a good helper.  Probably because he really likes pears.  

It sure doesn't take long to fill a basket.  This was after about five minutes of picking. 
And that includes the time it took me to climb down the ladder and unload my shirt. 
Again, glad for the shirt. 

We ended up with about 150lbs of pears.  This is just one of the baskets, and it weighs 40lbs by itself!  Can you tell I'm struggling to hold it up?  I'm trying to look composed...and stylish. 
Oh well, ya can't win 'em all...

...and check out the consolation prize!  It was delicious.