I
am not an expert in harvesting pears, however, can share only what I
have learned over the years. To tell you the truth I have only been
participating in this fall family activity for the past four years.
Most
of what I have learned comes from my brother, he has a D'Anjou
pear tree orchard and has taught me the basics. Unlike other
types of pears the D'Anjou
does not change color when it ripening, instead, it stays green but
does get dull color, not as shiny. He said to check the pears to see
if they are ripe by pressing down by the neck of the pear, if there
is a slight give, then it is ready to be harvested.
Another
thing my brother taught me is when to harvest the pears. He suggested
that I choose a day after a hard rain or harvest on a breezy day. His
reason is that it is easier to pick the pears off the ground than it
is to take them from the tree branches.
Harvesting
pears is a fun activity for families. The kids love to gather the
fallen pears, the parents and other adults will climb the trees or go
up ladders to harvest the fruit off the tree branches.
Products
Needed
Harvesting
pears aren't difficult to do as long as you wear garden
gloves to protect your hands. A long
sleeve shirt to protect your arms from getting scratched from the
tree branches.
I
bring along a branch cutting shears/pruner to remove the pear from
the tree branch. This hand
tool is helpful when harvesting pears from the tree branches.
Know
that a crossover
bag does come in handy. For me, it is easy to pick the pears and
put them into the bag. When the bag is full I lower it down to be
emptied. This eliminates going up and down ladders.
No
Pear is Wasted
All
of the pears are divided according to how ripe they are and put into
cardboard boxes. None of the pears are left behind if they are too
ripe we will take and add them to the compost
