Re: [gardeners] Kieffer pear it is!!!

George Shirley (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Mon, 25 Jun 2001 14:14:32 -0500 

A lot of people say what you did about Kieffer but I have always enjoyed eating
them fresh. You can take a ripe one, peel it, and then cut chunks or slices off
and eat. It has a pleasant taste and is very crunchy but I have always liked
them. The variety of Kieffer a friend has actually gets a little soft on the
tree and he eats them right off the tree. I pick his pears, as no one but him
likes them, and they make excellent preserves plus we eat them out of hand until
they are too soft. These ripen now, we will be picking next week. Our county
agent says they are definitely a subvariety of Kieffer.

George

"Lon J. Rombough" wrote:
> 
> Be aware that many winter pears, such as D'Anjou, will not ripen if simply
> picked green.  They have to spend time in a refrigerator - 8 weeks or so at
> least - before they will soften and ripen when taken out.
>     One way to tell when a pear is ripe is to look at the seeds.  Brown,
> mature seeds mean ripe fruit in fall and winter varieties (Keiffer is a fall
> variety, by deinition).  When pears start dropping, it is another sign that
> they are mature and ready to pick.  Commercially, they use a pressure tester
> - a device that measures how much pressure it takes to push a little rod
> into the flesh of the fruit.  When the pressure drops below a certain value,
> the fruit is mature enough to pick.
>     If you don't cook Keiffer first, you might as well process it with a
> chipper-shredder.
> -Lon Rombough
> Grapes, writing, consulting, more, plus word on my grape book at
> http://www.hevanet.com/lonrom
> 
> ----------
> >From: "Seyfried,Alice" <seyfried@oclc.org>
> >To: "'gardeners@globalgarden.com'" <gardeners@globalgarden.com>
> >Subject: [gardeners] Kieffer pear it is!!!
> >Date: Mon, Jun 25, 2001, 7:43 AM
> >
> 
> >Well, I did a search on the web for Kieffer Pear and, low-and-behold,
> >there's my fruit! They look exactly like the pictures on this site - the
> >splotches all over, some more round, some more "pear" shaped. There's even a
> >recipe for pear honey, so George, you don't need to dig yours out for me
> >(unless it's different/better, of course). I'm so excited, I could jump!
> >Now I just need to find me one of those pickers like they show here,
> >because, of course, the most fruit is waayyy at the top of the tree.
> >
> >http://backwoodshome.com/articles/yeager52.html
> >
> >Now one more question, well, actually 2.
> >
> >1) How the heck do I tell when these things are ripe? All my ingrained
> >training says to sqeeze pears, which of course, won't work with a Kieffer.
> >
> >2) The recipe for pear honey says to put the pears through a food grinder.
> >We don't have a food grinder, but we do have a Victorio Strainer that we
> >purchased just this year. Could I cook them first, then run them through
> >that instead of grinding them first?
> >
> >Thanks again!!
> >
> >Alice - zone 5b-6
> >seyfried@oclc.org
> >
> >-----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
> >>
> >> lneuru wrote:
> >> >
> >> > borrowing a leaf from George, here.  I have received no garden mail for
> >> > awhile, several days, I think.  Am I still with you?
> >> >
> >> > We went out today for another bout of weeding.  I have been
> >incapacitated
> >> > for almost 6 weeks but am more or less functional now.........and boy
> >has
> >> > the garden enjoyed it's freedom while I've been laid up!  So far 6
> >garbage
> >> > cans/bags full of weeds (too much to compost) and we are only about
> >> halfway
> >> > through a 50 by 150 yard.  It's been alternately hot, then rainy and
> >cool,
> >> > ideal conditions for the stuff in this climate (Great Lakes).
> >> >
> >> > We found termites in our pressurized lumber raised beds, one, anyway, so
> >> we
> >> > figure it's in more of them.  So much for making life better through
> >> > chemicals.  I'm sending Len off the Canadian Tire for lots of termite
> >> > poison. - we don't use pesticides but we are going to make an exception
> >> > here.  And we are going to replace wood with stone, just as soon as the
> >> > bugs are dead.
> >> >
> >> > We now have a red squirrel; he ate all the sunflower seeds in the bird
> >> > feeder, then ate the bird feeder.  They are very destructive little
> >> > beasts....all my high falutin precepts about wildlife and gun control in
> >> > cities etc.etc. are being replaced with dreams of h-bombing this
> >> > creature......add to that the skunk we had removed from under our porch
> >> > (2nd year in a row - she found the tiniest, moveable brick in the
> >walkway)
> >> > and the possum who has moved in somewhere in the back 40.  Aren't they
> >> > supposed to be southern creatures? So far no #$%^& groundhogs, but I
> >guess
> >> > they'll be next.
> >> >
> >> > What is happening up here is that we are just the tiniest bit warmer the
> >> > last few years, that and the animals are being presssured by encroaching
> >> > ciites.  We are and have been town for over 100 years here, but near a
> >> very
> >> > large railway allowance and a conservation area, and a big park.  So I
> >> > guess we look like the woods.  We have more wildlife here than we do
> >down
> >> > east on the farm where we *are* woods, almost.
> >> >
> >> > The weeding was somewhat satisfying, but I ached badly in the shoulders;
> >2
> >> > aspirin did nothing so finally resorted to hot water in the shower, full
> >> on
> >> > the bum shoulder, and that did the trick.
> >> >
> >> > So life has returned to good - another leaf from George.
> >> >
> >> > Lucinda
> >