Other than the sliding of the keys across the table from previous owners to us, the happiest moment of closing on our house to me was when the previous owners told us that the beautiful flowering tree in the backyard was a pear tree.
Such a stunning tree.
I love pears. LOVE them.
Oh, the plans I had for my juicy pears the moment I found out they were mine! Thoughts of fresh pear juice dripping down my hands while chomping down on pear after pear, thoughts of freezing pear sauce and canning pear butter, thoughts of pear brandy, pears in my salads, pear tarts, pear cobbler, poached pears, pears with ice cream, pears in my oatmeal, pears and gorgonzola, ginger-pear this, pear-walnut that….my heart leaps & flips & breakdances at the thoughts.
The most adorable little pear babies started popping up all over that gorgeous tree of hope & dreams.
But seriously, how cute are those?
And then this awful summer weather came. And everything struggled to survive. Nonetheless, the stalwart pear tree laughed in the face of the drought and produced an overwhelming abundance of pears. Though Willa did her darndest to chase them out, the squirrels flocked to the tree, and who could blame them? It was HOT and DRY and they need food too. And anyway, we’re down with sharing the wealth and could never–even with all of my drool-inducing pear plans–use up all that fruit (especially the ones at the top of the tree, out of reach even to Lanny on the ladder with our telescoping fruit picker pole!). So we waited with bated breath for them to ripen.
Before we knew it, at least 100 pears had fallen to the ground and a city of bees came to feast. I was so discouraged. Got stung on the bottom of my foot. Became even more discouraged.
Then I read that pears often ripen better off the tree than on. So I bucked up and started picking. And picking. And picking.
First harvest.
I stuck them in the fridge in paper bags. And waited. And waited. And they didn’t ripen.
We lost another 100 (at the VERY least) to the ground and the bees. And then went for a second round of picking. At this point, we decided that the weather had thrown off the pears a bit this year–possibly stunted their growth– and also accepted the fact that we’re learning. And we’ll do better next year.
The second harvest piled up on the table.
The pears are now hanging out outside of the fridge in paper bags accompanied by some apples and bananas to help speed up their ripening. I’m worried we won’t get many to ripen properly, but there’s nothing I can do right now but incessantly read advice online and wait.
I really want that pear butter to happen.
As we wait and hope, does anyone have any helpful pear tips for us–for this year or the years to come?
Post by Amanda
measuredandslow.wordpress.com 
We have pear trees, apple trees, grapes, and raspberries. Love it!!!! However, make sure you are trimming your trees back once a year and then spray with a neem oil mixture to keep and bugs away. Then pick while they are still firm but color is nice. And then put in brown bags. I think last time I put it with something weird like carrots because it seems to work faster than putting pears with other fruit. I love homemade pear/applesauce blend for my kids! Also home pressed pear juice etc
Get your sauce making and canning setup all ready so you can jump into action when they ripen, I bet they’ll turn all at once and only for a short window of opportunity,
Thanks, Sarah! I love the carrot tip! Pressed pear juice sounds FANTASTIC.
Good thought, Hannah. I think they’ll be ripe in the next day or so (which kinda sucks because that means we’ll be forced to do it on a week night, but hey– I WANT THAT BUTTER.)