Many European Pears & Asian Pears Ripe

   We still have many harvested pears for sale. Yesterday I delivered 80 lbs. of 'Luscious' European pears to Chetopa School and Bartlett School for the kids' afternoon snacks.  The schools and many parents of young children like these 'Luscious' pears since they're small to medium-sized, and the kids will eat the whole pear.
   We also still have some 'Blake's Pride' European pears, which get huge, for sale.  If you want 'Blake's Pride' pears, come soon, since I'm almost done harvesting them.  Tomorrow I'll start harvesting 'Harrowsweet', our last European pear variety, and we'll keep harvesting them for the next 3 weeks or so.

Tomorrow I'll start harvesting 'Harrowsweet', our latest-ripening European pear variety, and we'll keep harvesting them for the next 3 weeks or so.

   European pears keep in the fridge for 4 to 6 weeks.  Take a few European pears out each day, and let them sit on the counter for 2 to 3 days until they turn yellow and as soft as you want them to eat or bake with.  A great pear tart recipe is posted on our Facebook page, Brendas Berries, as a Note.
   I'm also harvesting many 'Shinko' Asian pears. Asian pears stay firm and crunchy, are very sweet and juicy, and keep well in the fridge for 3 to 4 months.  I give taste samples of all our pear varieties.

'Shinko' Asian pears stay firm and crunchy, and are very sweet and juicy.

   I'm also harvesting several early apple varieties from my apple breeding program, but we only have a few trees of apple varieties that fruit this early.  Our main apple harvest season, and pick-your-own apple season, runs from about Sept. 24 to about Nov. 12 or 15.

'Sun Flare' is a selection from my apple breeding program that I just named 2 days ago.  It's very sweet and crisp.  I picked about 50 lbs. of 'Sun Flare', and about 30 lbs. have already sold.

   Small amounts of harvested pears and apples cost $1.20 per pound + tax.  A 20-lb. box of pears or apples costs $23.15 + tax, which saves $1.00 off the per-pound price.  I harvest pears and apples into two plastic bags per box, so you can get a mixed box of European and Asian pears, or one bag of pears and one bag of apples (when available), and still get the 20-lb. discount.
   We also usually have some 2nds pears and a few 2nds apples, great for baking or for making pear butter or apple butter.  Usually about 90% of the fruit is still usable, but they're 60% the cost at $0.83 per pound + tax.
   From Sept. 1 to Nov. 30 we're open our fall hours: Mon. to Sat. 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., & Sundays 1 to 6 p.m.  I'm very busy harvesting pears and early apples all around the farm, and often can't see the driveway from the orchards.  While harvesting, I put up a sign on the sales building, saying to ring the bell.  I hear that and come to the sales building.