Many 'Blake's Pride' Pears, Some Asian Pears

   We're still harvesting many 'Blake's Pride' European pears.  We have a bumper crop of 'Blake's Pride' pears this year, and we've already picked over 1850 pounds of them.  We've sold over 800 pounds, and have over 1050 pounds in the cooler right now, ready to sell.  Early each morning, a worker and I harvest more.  We'll keep harvesting 'Blake's Pride' pears for the next couple weeks, and next week we'll also start harvesting 'Harrow Sweet' pears.

Our workers Dusti Scales (front right) and Andrew Coberley harvested many 'Blake's Pride' pears on Sat. morning Sept. 10. We still have lots to harvest.

   'Blake's Pride' produces large pears with a buttery, smooth texture, wonderful for fresh eating, baking, canning, drying and making pear butter.  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.

'Blake's Pride' pears are very sweet with a buttery, smooth texture.

   I just started harvesting 'Shinko' Asian pears a few days ago, and we have some for sale now.  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.

'Shinko' Asian pears are very sweet and juicy, great for fresh eating like an apple.

   I'm also harvesting a few of the earliest-ripening apple varieties from my apple breeding program, and have some for sale now and for the next couple months.  I give taste samples of all apple and pear varieties available at the time you come visit us.

   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 Oct. to next June, when we have more apples to sell, you can also save $1.00 by buying 20 pounds of apples, but this early in the apple season, apples are very limited.

   Our pick-your-own apple season, and main apple season, doesn't start until the last few days of Sept., 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.

   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.

   While harvesting pears or apples, I put up a sign by the bell on our sales building porch, saying to ring the bell.  Our pear orchard is 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 pear orchard.)  But I do appreciate a call a day ahead so I can know when to expect you.  Thanks.