Our pear tree here is 30 to 40 feet tall, we know it's old but a guy that came yesterday said it was close to 200 years old. These pears fall off while they are still hard and green, and the tree is always loaded, like hundreds, of pears. I don't what to do with them, last year we fed a hog out with them, and I have tried wrapping them and they don't keep well. They are so hard to peel, even my apple peeler dosen't do it. Everyone who comes, like to buy a pup or something, says they have not seen one of those pear trees since they was a kid. Do you all maybe know what kind it is? Very large pear shaped pears, and the trunk is like 3 trees going up. I just hate to waste anything, everyone says to wait till first frost, they turn soft and sweet, but they always fall off way before first frost. Maybe they would ripen in the fridge? There are still hundreds up there, but I am picking up about 10 gallons a day now off the ground. Thanks

-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@msn.com), August 29, 2000

Answers

We too have a tree like yours. The pears are cooking pears. they don't get soft until they are old. Cook the pears in a syrup. Made with sugar and can them!!!They taste just like thae canned pears that is served with cottage cheese is high priced delis!!!If you would like I'll find my recipe and post it!I have another that is served with a cocoa sauce!!!!

-- Debbie T in N.C. (rdtyner@mindspring.com), August 29, 2000.

I have one like that too!! I picked so many last year and was frustrated that I couldn't get them to ripen. So I followed the recipe in the Ball Canning Book for pear butter. It is so good. Very delicate and old fashioned tasting. But I couldn't use them all. This year I am feeding them to cows. They love them. Their eyes almost roll back they love them so much.

-- Stephanie Masters (ajsd@gateway.net), August 29, 2000.

Our old pear tree is the same---its called a "Kieffer" pear and is not good eating out of hand. We make conserve, jam, pear butter, and pieces in syrup with it.

The chickens like them well enough. They will soften up and you can eat the outer edge fresh, but inside it gets grainy. Old timers tell me they were able to wrap them in newspaper (after picking them, NEVER after they've fallen and become bruised) and keep them into winter months. This had short-lived success for us, probably because we don't have true 'cold storage'.

-- Anne (HT@HM.com), August 29, 2000.

Thanks for your answers! Yes Debbie I would love to have the recipies. Steve will have to climb the tree to get the pears before they fall for me to cook. You are the first person who has said they are "cooking" pears. This is just our 3rd summer here at this place, and now that the house is liveable, I have concentrated on the garden and putting up as much as I can this summer. I have smashed allot of pears with a 2x4 piece and given them to the chickens, but our Jack and pony are in that field too and they love them and I am afraid they will get a belly ache if they get too many. Thanks

-- Cindy in Ky (solidrockranch@msn.com), August 29, 2000.

I am so glad you asked this question. I have a tree exactly like you describe. I am so glad to know what it is now.

I have been feeding them to the cows and goats too. Now I will try some for me.

-- R. (thor610@yahoo.com), August 29, 2000.

Here is my canned pear recipe.

Prepare 2T. salt 1 gal. cold water

Peel, half and core pears into the cold water( this will keep them from turning dark.) When you have enough for a canner rinse in cool water! In a large boiler mix 6 cups water 2 cups sugar add pear halves and cook for 10 min.

remove from heat and place hot pears in sterilized jars (I use quart jars)and pour enough of the hot syrup in to cover the pears and sill the lids. I use a water bath but you can use your pressure canner. Bring to a full rolling boil and cook for 10 more min. and cut the burner out and let cool.

I serve them with cottage cheese or cream cheese in the summer. I also like to add a dash of ginger and with the following cocoa sauce in winter severed hot:

Melt 1pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips in a large sauce pan and drizzel over hot pears, top with a sprig of fresh mint!!

let me know how you like them!! good luck!

-- Debbie T in N.C. (rdtyner@mindspring.com), August 29, 2000.

Thanks, that sounds pretty easy but how do you manage to PEEL them? A

-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@msn.com), August 30, 2000.

A lady from church last year has a tree like that. Her husband took 2 truck loads up to where he hunts deer before we realized that she had them. The tree was loaded last year, but this year the frost got most of them.

We peeled them with just one of the regular potato/veg peelers. They are hard! but once you get them canned, they are wonderful!

Much luck to you and send some my way!!

-- Misha (MishaaE@aol.com), August 30, 2000.

I use a small, sharp paring knife. Like the other post says" after you get the hang of it" there's nothing to it!!!

-- Debbie T in N.C. (rdtyner@mindspring.com), August 30, 2000.

For a real delicacy, try adding some (use your tongue's best judgement) sweet, white german dessert wine, the ones with the long unpronounceable names, or even a Reisling, to your all purpose basic syrup. Yeah baby. Did that one year with white peaches and you never saw canned peaches go so quickly!

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), August 30, 2000.

Well now those big long yellow hornets have come for the pears. They did it last year too. They don't want me anywhere near that tree and it is right in front of the old garage where all my tools and feed and stuff are. Last year I sprinkled Sevin dust on them and ran like the wind. I can get the pears when it is almost dark out. I don't like those things at all. I have been keeping the ground picked up and clean but so many keep falling. I don't mind the tiny bees but those stinkin' things think they own the place. I am going to do some pears today, let you know how they turn out. Thanks

-- Cindy in Ky (solidrockranch@msn.com), August 31, 2000.

Hey, don't eat ANYTHING contaminated with sevin dust. Don't even use it near foodstuffs. Read the label warnings and you will understand. Try using a hose to hose off the fruit on the ground and scare up (and out) the nasty hornets. Wear shoes, long pants, long sleeves and gloves, if you are truly nervous. Have a friend on "hornet patrol" while you gather.

-- Anne (HT@HM.com), September 01, 2000.

This works for bees and may work for hornets too (it's an alternative to "smoking" the bees)

Mix up a syrup of sugar water by pouring hot water over some sugar and stirring until thoroughly disolved, cool, then transfer to a spray bottle and spray bees until they are more or less all lightly coverd. Instead of flying at the hive operater as s/he opens the nest, they will settle down and clean themselves off, as the sugar water is a food product and also inhibits their ability to fly.

You may want to use this in a garden sprayer for hornets and test on a group that's gathered together at a nest or some such for ease of observation. This is not only humane, but simple, cheap, and environmentally friendly. Remember, hornets and other stinging inects are part of the pollination cycle and they are probably just trying to reap what they sowed. Since, without their help, you wouldn't have any pears to eat in the first place, killing them is just plain bad manners unless your family is in serious danger from them.

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), September 01, 2000.

This house was abandoned 10 years before we found it and saved it. The hornets, bald faced hornets, wasps, carpenter bees, circada killers and mud dappers all lived here in the house and around the property. I try not to hurt any of the bees, and I never use Sevin in the garden at all, I only got it to sprinkle in the dirt in back for fleas last year when we had that drought. And these hornets are agressive, they get in my house somehow. I have killed 12 this week in the house! I put a spotlight on the porch after I turned off all the lights to make them go out, they did, but then they wanted back in and crawled in the crack of the screen door. If they would leave me alone I would leave them alone. I only use the pears we pick, not on the ground. If I go near the garage they chase me and scare me. They fly right by my face and even hit me. I have been stung by wasps every summer here, the red and black ones are mean. And the circada killers are in the garden dirt in their holes, the largest hornet there is. I let them alone as long as they do me the same. And I grow lots of flowers for the little bees and honey bees. The tiny bees came on the second day our pear tree was in bloom and stayed. I can pick up a pear with a tiny bee on it and it won't hurt me, just fly off to another.

-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@msn.com), September 01, 2000.

Don't know what to tell you about the hornets. I am rarely if ever bothered by them, maybe body chemistry (perhaps you "smell" threatening or dangerous). They do seem to go after my husband more, but then again, he's mildly allergic to the sting and therefore may be prone to move more quickly and jerkily around them, which of course they perceive as threatening also. Do you wear perfume? Maybe your shampoo or soap has a strong scent that they dislike or are attracted to. I just walk around them and they ignore me if I move slowly. Some bees and hornets will "buzz" you to establish that this is their territory, not meaning to land or hit you until you "duck" into their path.

If you can muster the courage, the next time just one tries to buzz you, just keep moving slowly without ducking or jerking one way or the other. They fly really well (all that practice, you see) and won't hit you if you don't move into their flight path, which may include evasive rolls and dives as soon as they've gotten close enough to make their point, which is probably exactly when you are dodging. If you do get stung, a paste of meat tenderizer and water will take out the sting almost instantly. Now, if more than one are bombing you, get out.

Carpenter bees do this a lot, and it's almost always the males, who have no sting at all. The females do, but they're non-aggressive. Cicada killers? Are they those honking big hornets on steroids that you'd swear are as big around as your finger? Got those here too (Cent. NC). They don't seem aggressive, but do give you heart a thump when you see them in the house!

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), September 02, 2000.

Cindy, hae you done any of the pears Yet? I just wanted to say that we have wasp and large bumble bees that are very calm but the hornets are Terrible under the pear tree! It must be the sugar content!!!Good luck!

-- Debbie T in N.C. (rdtyner@mindspring.com), September 02, 2000.

Soni, I have never worm perfume, and the thing I probably smell like every day by 10:00am is dog, goat, sweat, pony, and manure!! Maybe I SHOULD wear perfume!! They don't like me because they want ALL the territory around the tree. The pear tree hangs over the garage door, the goat barn, and my well pump water spout!! Not a good place to avoid!! In the heat of the day they are the meanest, I try to tiptoe around there, but it makes me mad. I am willing to share the pears but they are not. There are lots of pears on the roof, and I leave them there. In fact, I am so easy to get along with if I knew where their home was I would carry 10 gallons of pears there and put them on their doorstep!! The only reason I am so scared of Hornets is I heard they put out a signal to the others if attacked or threatened. The carpenter bees don't scare me anymore since I learned the ones hitting you are boys and can't sting. Now I knock them out of the sky and step on them, after 3 warnings of course. The insects are lazy! If they would go build their houses in the woods like they used to before peoples houses were built we could get along. But they want our garage, our house, a nest right above the back door!! They are not very smart if you ask me. Debbie, not yet, have had a couple rough days but I promise I will this weekend.

-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@msn.com), September 02, 2000.

Now the hornets are around my back porch light at night. Found a good site about Hornets and how to get rid of them.

http://www.santarosa.edu/lifesciences/control.htm

Also this site is from the Organic Gardening booklet I get-Natural ways to rid pests, havn't tried any but interesting reading. Biocontrol Network.

http://www.biconet.com

-- Cindy in Ky (solidrockranch@msn.com), September 03, 2000.