Many Pears & Asian Pears, Some Apples Now

   We've now harvested over 3200 pounds of 'Blake's Pride' pears, sold about 1750 pounds, and have about 1450 pounds in the cooler, ready to sell.  I also started harvesting 'Harrow Sweet' pears a few days ago, and I'm still harvesting many 'Shinko' Asian pears.  I just started harvesting 'Enterprise' apples, and I'm still harvesting some varieties from my apple breeding program.

   Our sales building cooler is now filled to almost its maximum capacity of 2300 pounds of fruit.  We brought the 200 more pounds of 'Blake's Pride' pears that we picked on Sat. morning Sept. 24 to the bigger cooler in our pecan building, but when we tried to turn it on, my husband Bill found that 2 of the 3 fan motors had worn out.  All local sources of fan motors are out of them, so Bill ordered 3 motors, but only one motor will get to us this Thurs. Sept. 29.  We have to wait for the other 2 motors until mid-Oct.

   So if you'd like to buy pears and/or Asian pears (or more of them), we'd very much appreciate it if you'd come in the next few days if possible, so we can have more room in our sales building cooler to put all the fruit that we need to pick each day.  Many people did come to buy pears and Asian pears on Sat. afternoon Sept. 24, and we sold just over 200 pounds of fruit, so had just enough space in the cooler to put in the pears we'd picked that morning.  Since then, people are buying just enough fruit to allow me to put in what I pick each day.

   'Blake's Pride' produces large pears with a buttery, smooth texture, wonderful for fresh eating, baking, canning, drying and making pear butter.  'Harrow Sweet' pears aren't as big on average, but are very sweet with a smooth texture.  Both these pears keep well in the fridge for at least 6 to 8 weeks.  Take them out of the fridge 2 to 4 days before you want to eat them or cook with them, and let them sit on the counter to soften until they turn bright yellow. 

We have some 'Harrow Sweet' pears for sale now & we'll keep picking them for the next 3 weeks or so.

   Asian pears are shaped like apples, stay crisp like apples, and never get soft.  They're very sweet and juicy, great for fresh eating like an apple, plus great in salads and stir-fry dishes.  We grow 'Shinko' Asian pear because it's the variety with the most resistance to fire blight disease, which can kill pear trees.  All our European pear varieties are resistant to fire blight disease also.

   We sell #1 harvested pears and apples for $1.39 per pound + sales tax.  We sell #2 (2nds) pears and apples, with cracks or bird pecks, for $1.06 per pound + sales tax.

   We pick the #1 fruit directly into 2 bags in each box, which I weigh to 20.0 pounds.  If you get a 20-pound box of pears and/or Asian pears, the price goes down to $1.34 per pound + sales tax.  So a 20-pound box of pears and/or Asian pears costs $26.85 + sales tax, and you save $1.00.  From mid-Oct. to next June, when we have more apples to sell, you can also save $1.00 by buying 20 pounds of apples.

   Our pick-your-own apple season, and main apple season, starts tomorrow and is heaviest the whole month of October,  as shown in the sidebar at left under Crop Sales Seasons.  That also shows that we only sell pears and Asian pears harvested.  We do not allow pick-your-own on pears or Asian pears because they're tricky to pick and we harvest much of the crop from ladders, and we do not ever let customers use ladders.

I took this photo of 'Shinko' Asian pears this morning while up on a ladder, before picking them.

   Our Fall Open Hours run from Sept. 1 until Nov. 30, as shown in the sidebar at left.  We're open Mon. to Sat. 9 a.m.to 12 noon and 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., and Sundays 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. only.  We're closed Sun. mornings for church services (as we are year-round), and closed from 12 noon to 1:30 p.m. each day so I can take a lunch break.

   Pick-your-own apple customers, please arrive here by 11:15 or so if you come in the morning, or arrive from 1:30 to 4:45 if you come in the afternoon, so you can finish picking and check out by our closing time.  Also please bring some used, clean, non-ripped plastic bags in different colors to pick apples into.  We provide bags for those who don't bring any, but we appreciate it if you bring bags, especially yellow or tan ones.  Do NOT bring cloth tote bags.  We use plastic bags because that is the best way to store your apples in the fridge for 6 to 7 months, as the plastic keeps moisture in but lets ethylene breathe out. Also, reusing is better than recycling.

   Pick-your-own apple prices are $1.16 per pound + sales tax for #1 apples, and $0.88 per pound + sales tax for #2 apples (2nds).  "Pick-you-own" means you pick the apples from the trees while you stand on the ground, and you buy everything you pick.

   For payment, we accept cash and checks (from any state), but NO credit cards or debit cards.  We have no phone line to the sales building, and no card reader.  Please bring your checkbook or enough cash to cover the amount you want to buy.  Thanks.

   While I'm harvesting pears or apples, I put up a sign by the bell on our sales building porch, saying to ring the bell.  Our pear and apple orchards are fairly close to our sales building, so I usually can hear vehicles come in the driveway and can hear the bell ring out there.  If you need to ring the bell, ring it loudly just a couple times.  (When rung softly and rhythmically, it sounds like a bird when I'm out in the orchard.)  But I do appreciate a call a day ahead so I can know when to expect you.  Thanks.