My neighbour's huge Pear tree is just about 25 metres from my front door. It invariably drops hundreds of Pears each year; most of which are inedible.
Being such a tall tree, the Pears fall from a great height, leaving them either squashed or seriously bruised. The lower branches have been cut off. Finding good Pears is rare.
However, this year we seem to have been luckier. I go most mornings to see what has fallen over night, and usually manage to find several that have survived the drop. As long as they are eaten that very lunchtime, we find them OK.
I happen to like Pears very much, but hardly ever buy them. The owner of the tree never comes to collect any, so we're not depriving anyone. They're not the greatest Pears, but they come from just a few metres away; and they're FREE. The tree from which they fall is that huge one on the extreme right; just beyond the pool. A scrumper's dream.
Looks like you are picking tomatoes now as well.
ReplyDeleteAt long last we have some beautiful Toms, any day we shall be overrun. A Tomato salad for lunch is essential.
DeleteThat is one thing I am really looking forward to.
DeleteThe 2 plants that eventually came good were 'grafted'. Lady M bought them as they were promised to be disease resistant. The fruits are huge, if a little resistant to ripen.
DeleteFREE is always tastier. Pity you can't put up a ladder and collect them before they fall. I do like pears but we don't often buy them. They are either hard as rocks or soapy and go off quickly. Our own pear tree rarely gives us a pear but our neighbours up the road is full of pears. They live in Athens but often come down to look after their land. I wonder if they will give any away...to us
ReplyDeleteHe only recently cut the lower branches so that he could get his tractor underneath to mow. Silly man.
DeletePillows under the tree? :D There's a pear tree in our local park. I find it surprising that the council allows anything useful and free on public property.
ReplyDeleteI could just stand underneath and wait, you never know; I might catch one!
DeleteI have always thought that municipal parks should have Apples, Pears, Plums, etc. Why not! I once picked an Orange from a public place in Marrakech, and later, at home, made marmalade with it.
Pears are one of the fruits that should always be followed in time, either they are too hard or they have already passed their time.
ReplyDeleteThese are a perfect example of that! If they are OK, we eat them the same day. If you leave them, they rot from the inside.
DeleteI like pears but don’t often buy them for some reason. We have a very old pear tree in the garden .... it used to produce a few fruits but they were always diseased. I think it only produces a few pears now which fall to the ground and are eaten by whatever animals/birds that visit our garden ! As Yale says, they are either rock hard or mushy ! XXXX
ReplyDeleteI wonder why it is that so few of us buy Pears, even though we love to eat them? I buy more Pineapples than I do Pears!
DeleteBecause pears in a shop have been picked too early and never develop that exquisite fragrance
DeleteYou can’t beat a good old scrump.
ReplyDeleteLX
I agree. Scrumped fruit always tastes better.
DeleteWe had a pear tree when I was growing up and in the beginning we were thrilled to have it. Later on, it got very large and a favorite eating place for the birds. What a mess, yet when it had to come down, we were all a little sad.
ReplyDeleteI have two trees; both are useless. I think I shall take both out and replace them with more Apples and Plums.
Delete'Stolen fruit is always the sweetest'
ReplyDeleteYes, I've been a scrumper ever since I was very small. A typical country lad.
Deleteyou could put out a suspended tarp like a hammock to catch them.
ReplyDeleteLike a trapeze artist? I'm not sure what my neighbour would think of that.
DeletePear and chocolate cake, pear and stilton tart, pear frangipane tart......yum !! The possibilities are endless !!
ReplyDeleteThe Pear and Stilton sounds delicious.
DeleteWere you any good at cricket? With a torch clenched in your teeth you could wait beneath the tree all night long, waiting to catch the falling pears and avoid bruising or damage. "Owzat?"
ReplyDeleteMaybe Lady Magnon could put her Lacrosse racquet to good use?
DeleteThe pear tree is a good producer. Growing with no care. Even better. Free for the taking. My pear trees continue to produce no fruit. Flowers in the Spring looked hopeful. Then a frost wiped out all the flowers. Maybe next year will be better for my pear trees.
ReplyDeleteBoth of mine look extremely 'crabby', and refuse to grow. I'm sure if I waited for 100 years they'd be OK, but I don't have the time.
DeleteMy friend claims pears every day are her claim to health.
ReplyDelete"A Pear a day keeps covid at bay".
Delete"Pears are for heirs."
ReplyDeleteSadly this is so. I also think the trees would benefit from serious spraying; which I'm unwilling to do.
DeleteScrumping! Something I did as a child (though I once made myself sick on plums). Not an expression used by my kids so eldest daughter was quite surprised when I said I was going to scrump some pears from a neighbour's pear tree, and promptly picked 4 and pocketed them!! As a kid, a friend and I once got chased out of an orchard by a ram with an attitude, put there to deter kids such as us!!
ReplyDelete