Too Many Pears!

   Pears.  Lots of pears.  Too many pears.  About 12 years ago, I planted two pear trees...one on either side of the back steps.  My thinking was that being near the small back deck would make picking the fruit easier.  (Sometimes, I do have brilliant thoughts and this was one of them!)  Happily, the trees have done extremely well and have always produced plenty of fruit for us despite the fact that every critter around here seems to think the trees are their personal diners.  About half of the pears are eaten before they are allowed to ripen.  This, however, is probably not a bad thing as the trees are always overloaded.

  This year, despite hundreds (literally) of pears being eaten by critters, there were far too many on the tree.  The branches drooped pathetically under the weight of the heavy fruits and then...crack!...one limb snapped.  Two days later, another broke.  I called for an "emergency" thinning of the pears and Son came to my rescue.  Bucket after bucket of pears were handed down from the ladder then the rooftop.  So many pears!!!

  Now that about a third of the pears have been picked, the trees look a lot happier but my kitchen does not.  Something will have to be done with the fruit and I am not relishing the hot job of canning.  It seems that nobody wishes to be donated a bunch of pears.  Have pears become that proverbial hard-to-give-away zucchini?   I guess canning will be my chore for the next couple of days then again when another batch are picked.  Too many pears!!!!  Way too many pears!

One Pound Pears!

  Just off the back porch, there are two pear trees...one on either side of the steps.  The trees have been there for ten years or there about so they are getting quite large.  In fact, Son had to trim the limbs this past year because they were too large.  I figured that may have put a damper on us getting any pears this year but the trees were loaded.  Then, along came squirrels and coons. They feasted upon the unripe pears before moving on to the muscadines and figs.  Still, dozens of pears hung on the trees.  It gave me hope that I would have some to can for the winter.  This past week, Son helped me pick the pears and two dozen jars were canned and put on the shelf.  The peels and cores provided enough juice to make a half dozen jars of pear syrup that was added to the shelf, as well.  Not much goes to waste.

  While I was happy to get any pears at all, what surprised me was the size of the fruit.  Anjou pears normally weigh about a half pound each.  We did have a few that size but the majority weighed about a full pound!  One pear filled both hands!  This made for some easy canning, to say the least. 

  One thing come to mind about the large fruit.  Perhaps the proximity to the porch had something to do with it.  I have a habit of never putting any kitchen scraps in the garbage can.  Instead, everything goes to the compost pile.  Well, almost everything.  If there is only a tiny amount of scraps, I have a habit of dropping it off the porch near the pear trees.  We have two box turtles that feast upon these few tidbits but sometimes they do not come to eat.  I also have the habit of emptying all coffee grounds near the trees. The scraps and daily coffee grounds are the only fertilizer the trees ever receive.  Perhaps my laziness about traipsing to the compost pile has proved to be a boon for the pear trees!  Something worked anyway!

Taking The Easy Road Has Me Tired!

   As I age, the body does not seem to want to keep up with the brain.  In my mind, there are a billion things that need doing during the day but the body is tired and achy.  Today after a migraine yesterday, I decided to forgo the plan of cutting the last bit of marsh near the pier.  That is a hot, strenuous chore best not to be tackled while headachy.  So, I opted to spend the day in the kitchen canning pears.  Seemed to be the easiest route to take.  It turned out to be harder than I had anticipated.  Arthritis is not for the weak.

  The hands were not appreciative of the bushel of pears that needed peeling, coring and chopping.  Instead of dealing with the entire bushel, I took the easy way out and only did half.  Problem is...I still have a half bushel to do (and many, many more on the trees).  Baby steps!  I will do what I can and go from there. 

  Today, I merely canned a mixture of diced pears and pineapple.  This concoction has very little sugar and a good bit of lemon juice.  Later, when the weather cools, a jar of this will be used as filling for pastries.  We do not need any more jars of ANYTHING on the pantry shelves but it is such a shame to let it go to waste.  I was raised during a time when it was "Waste not, want not" and that has stuck.  I have tried sharing fruit from the trees with many folks but there have been no takers.  So...plums, peaches and pears have kept me busy even with my hurting hands!  It is all good...literally!  Yummy, in fact!

Maybe a few figs?

   I admit to being a mite frustrated at the critters roaming about the place.  Since all of the property to our west has been clear cut, we have been invaded by just about every critter imaginable.  While I love critters of all types, you would think this would be fine but those very same animals are hungry.  They have been raiding the fruit trees and vegetable garden day and night.  When they hit the peach trees and plum trees, I was quite miffed, to say the least.  It really would not be so bad if they actually ate the fruit and not just "sampled" each and every one.  Most wind up on the ground ruined by bite marks.  What to do, what to do?  Well, I picked anything that was large and starting to ripen and left the rest.  The picked fruit was placed on trays and let ripen inside.  In the past few weeks, I have canned more fruit than is needed.  So it all worked out ok. 

  Now, the pears are starting to be attacked.  Beneath the pear trees, the ground is littered with half eaten pears.  The fruit is far too small to be picked so it does not look promising.  I suppose the fig trees will be the next buffet for the fruit-eating critters.  All of the fig trees are loaded with fruit and I am in hopes of at least getting a few but that may not happen.

  Pop always used to say "If something is hungry, let it eat.  Plant more next year."  Well, Pop.  I guess I better get busy and plant more trees because we sure have a lot of hungry critters on our hands!

Hand-me-down Skills

  The other day, my sweet daughter brought me a few jars of some pears that she canned.  Elizabeth and Robbie's new place came equipped with some of the finest fruit trees and among them were a good number of pear trees.  Each tree seemed determined to impress them with its ability to produce fruit so Elizabeth and Robbie were picking pears a good bit. She was determined to can the pears for later use and did an incredible job.  I am so proud!  This skill is one that has been passed down through the family for generations and I did my best to make sure each of my kids knew at least the basics.  I am proud to say that they do.  Even the boys (now men) can make jelly or can beans or anything else with the best of them!  Good job! While Elizabeth knew how to can, she has not had the opportunity to do much of it in the past.  First the fig trees and then the pear trees in her new yard kept her quite busy with the jars this year.  She prepared a delightful concoction called "Spiced Pears".  The taste is out of this world delicious!  The syrupy goodness around the pears has the perfect blend of sweetness and spiciness!  I am now hoarding the last two jars to be used as a special treat!

  What makes me so proud about her (and my boys) learning this skill is the fact that my mom had no clue how to do any home-canning.  Mom was a sweet "city" girl who just so happened to fall in love with a country boy....a farmer.  Well, you know where that went.  Just a few weeks after they were married, Pop brought home a lovely steam canner and presented Mom with several bushels of green beans.  "We need to can these for winter." he told her.  I can only imagine the look she shot at him!  She had no idea of how to use that canner!  In steps Pop's sister, Marie, to save the day.  That summer, my Aunt Marie not only did her own canning but taught Mom the finer points of the skill.  Later, my sister and I were taught following Aunt Marie's instructions.  At the time, it was unheard of for boys to do much in the way of kitchen work so my brothers do not have this knowledge.  I am sure glad that I do and I made sure that ALL of my children learned the skill.  You never know when you might need to know how to preserve foodstuffs.

  I am proud of Elizabeth and her canning.  Not only that she has the "know-how" but that she and her husband did not let the fruit go to waste.  They are well on their way to being at least a little bit of farmers! She has no choice...it is a hand-me-down skill that is "in the blood"! Makes this mom proud!

Cookin' vs Eatin'

  Back when I was a kid, I can remember that just about every yard had a couple of pear trees growing in them.  Some yards were equipped with "cookin' pears" or "sand pears" but all had eatin' pears!  We did not get to visit folks often but I also recall that not one tree owner ever fussed at kids if we "sampled" a pear from their thickly laden tree. Those eatin' pears were just too sweet and juicy to pass with out tasting!  What happened?

  About five years ago, Mark was away at work when my birthday rolled around.  He called my brother and asked him to get me two pear trees. Mark knows that I hate the usual knick-knacky type gifts and love to get things that are useful.  Pear trees are quite useful.  Anyway, my brother did what was requested of him.  He delivered two fine specimens of pear trees that he purchased at a local nursery.  When we were inspecting the trees, he told me that he made sure to ask the saleslady for eatin' pears and not cookin' pears.  My brother said that Mark had specified that.  He pointed at the tag dangling from the spindly limb so I could see for myself.  Yep, it clearly stated that these two trees were Bartlett Pears.  Yes!  I could almost taste the sweetness!

  Well, five years down the line and I promise you these do not look too much like eatin' pears to me.  They are hard, rough-skinned and the texture of the flesh is sort of gritty.  The are not like the creamy, melt-in-your-mouth pears from my childhood.  I am assuming that the trees were mistagged with they were just saplings.  These are NOT Bartlett Pears...why, these are not even eatin' pears if you ask me.  I will give the trees a few more weeks to see if the pears soften but I have my doubts.  I think these are some of those cookin' pears and that is just what I will do with them.  Then I will start searching for some good ole, eatin' pears to add to the garden.