RE: [gardeners] Re: Sunday in the garden [sic]
Seyfried,Alice (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Mon, 25 Jun 2001 09:39:44 -0400
Oh, now that's interesting. I had no idea there was any such-type of pear.
The fruits themselves have the shape and color of a "regular" bartlett (?)
that you buy in the grocery store, so I just assumed that's what it was. I
will talk with our extension office. I can't believe I may have just been
wasting all those pears for all these years! Would I go about making pear
butter the same way I do apple butter? Different spices? We put up many
pints of apple butter every year. Pear would make an interesting change for
those Christmas baskets. And pear honey? That's peaked my interest.
-----Original Message-----
From: George Shirley [mailto:gshirl@bellsouth.net]
Sent: Monday, June 25, 2001 9:22 AM
To: gardeners@globalgarden.com
Subject: Re: [gardeners] Re: Sunday in the garden [sic]
They may be ripe Alice. I grow a Kieffer pear, it ends up round with a
yellowish
green skin and is hard as a rock when ripe. My folks always called them
"those
old canning pears." Sounds like that may be what you have. Pear trees also
need
regular pruning to keep them producing properly a little well-rotted animal
manure around the base early in the spring when they bloom is also
appreciated.
If you wait for the fruit to fall off the tree it will almost always be
rotted
by the time it hits the ground. Check with your county agent about type,
species, and pruning.
If it is a canning pear I have tons of recipes for canning pears, pear
sauce,
pear honey, pear butter, etc, etc.
George
"Seyfried,Alice" wrote:
>
> Eeek!! No no no, please don't do that! I'm just a lurker, but I adore
this
> list, so I will pipe up with a question about my pear tree that I've been
> wanting to ask for a very long time. I have no idea what variety it is,
as
> it was planted before we bought our house. It is healthy however, and has
> been kept in good shape. Every year it is totally **loaded** with pears.
The
> problem is that the pears never ripen. They seem to go from hard as rocks
to
> rotten. Now, we are not chemical people, and we're a bit lazy too, so
we've
> never sprayed this tree with anything. We live in central Ohio, zone 5b-6.
> Does anyone have any suggestions for why the pears don't ripen. We are at
> the point that we are thinking of taking the tree out because it attracts
> wasps and bees like crazy. I'd put up with them if we could get some
fruit,
> but if we can't enjoy the pears, then the wasps can't either.
>
> Thanks!
> Alice - zone 5b-6
> seyfried@oclc.org
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: George Shirley [mailto:gshirl@bellsouth.net]
> Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2001 11:53 PM
> To: Gardeners List
> Subject: [gardeners] Re: Sunday in the garden [sic]
>
> There has been no gardeners mail for at least a week now. If volume
doesn't
> pick
> up soon we will disband the list for lack of interest. Come on folks we
know
> you're lurking out there. Is everyone busy gardening?
>
> George