Pears, anyone?

One of the features that sold me on my dream home is two pear trees. The wonderful people who were the original owners were a gardener and a grafter. Years ago, John Makar planted two young apple trees and somehow got some pear grafts for them, and every year at this time we bless him for them. (I also bless his wife Ann for the wonderful perennials in our yard).

On Saturday morning, I went outside with my morning coffee, and as I sat in a patio chair, a pear fell to the ground at my feet. So I got up, picked a pear from the tree, and bit into it. As my teeth broke the skin and sank into the soft flesh, a sweet and delicious juiciness trickled into my mouth, and I knew it was Pear Day. I spent two hours up on the garage roof, picking enough pears to fill a large rubbermaid bin while our girls picked from the ground or the tree. After lunch, I got up on a ladder and picked another dozen pails full. Lee pruned the section of the tree that we didn't do last year, and we finished clean up by seven p.m. It was a busy day (that included 5 loads of laundry hung out to dry).

Here's Julia's handy pear picking pulley set up.

Lee, pruning the tree. (Hey, I'm a poet!)

View from the step ladder.

I had to get up on the top step, eventually.

Here's most of the harvest, though there are still some we didn't reach.

So, if you're interested in getting some delicious, juicy little pears this week, there's a bin full sitting on my front step. Bring a pail, and help yourself! The other bin went to The Edmonton Food Bank this morning -- 31 kilos, or 65 lbs worth. We still have that much again, so as for me, it's time to dehydrate pears, and make pear pies, pear kuchen, pear muffins... and anything else pear that I can come up with. If you have a good pear recipe, send it my way!