"FarmI" <ask@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
be given> wrote in message
news:47c4f16b$0$27315$5a62ac22@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> "David Hare-Scott" <compost@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
> > Pears will ripen off the tree. OK but
> >
> > When is it best to pull them? When they are big? How big?
> >
> > Will they be better if left to ripen on the tree?
>
> No. We have just had an argument about this in our household as I told
> Himself that Pears are one of the few fruits which need to be picked
before
> ripe. Wouldn't believe me would he till I dragged out my fruit growing
> books.
>
> Louis Glowinski in his "The Complete Book of Fruit Growing in Australia"
> says:
> "Pears must be picked when mature but still hard. If left too long on
the
> tree, the flesh, especially near the core, will become slimy, with the
rest
> of the fruit being mealy and tasteless. The fruit develops best flavour
if
> picked 2 weeks before full ripeness and it can be tricky to decide on
> harvest time. If you goof and pick the pear too early it will never
ripen
> but merely lose water and shrivel.
> Colour is not an indication of maturity." etc etc. he says that
> Williams' pears must be picked when still very green and tha signs of
> maturity are that it will separate from the tree easily, that even
though
> unripe it will still be juicy and sweet and trail and error.
>
> Paul Baxter's "Growing Fruit in Australia" says the same about early
picking
> but generally gives less detail than Glowinski.
>
Well allowing to ripen off the tree is in accord with what I have read.
However that still leaves me somewhat in the dark about exactly when you
do
pick them, other than not when fully ripe. I guess it's that old trail of
errors again. Or is that trial by error, or trail of erics, oh bugger I
don't
know.
David
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