Saturday evening, I went out to check the early pears. Not only had the pears gained in size over the week, but about half were almost ripe enough to eat right off the tree, the other half could be picked and stored in the fridge, until we are ready for them (then ripened on the counter for a couple of days).
Two pears had already fallen from the tree. It looked as if they'd been on the ground for about 2 days or so. I washed them, cut off the bad spots, and used in a fruit salad with dinner.
Sunday, late afternoon, my daughters and I picked the tree. I only had one pear so high up that I needed to use the pear picker. We call this model, "Pear Picker 3.0" It's an improvement over "Pear Picker 2000", in that no duct tape was needed (which was a good thing, as we are out of duct tape at the moment). I turn a portable, tall sprinkler upside down and stuck the spike-end into the bottom of a used coffee cup (from church). The coffee cup was secure on the spike and just the right size to hold 1 pear at a time, from the safety of a lower rung of the ladder.
Pear Picker 3.0 did the job. I was able to reach that highest pear, gently push up on the pear, break the stem and lower the Pear Picker (with pear in the cup) to safety! Only one pear was dropped in the entire harvest, which is an improvement for me. That pear is resting on the counter, ripening, and will be used in a smoothie or yogurt later this week.
We harvested over 50 pears from this tree, this year. That's enough to last the entire month of August, and maybe into September. I love these pears. They look so beautiful, have a soft skin, are super sweet, and are an early fruit.
