crop: Morettini

The first windfalls made me think that the rest of the crop is ready to pick, though most of the early droppers were infected with codling moth which didn't help judge the timing.

In past years I've found timing picking quite critical; too early and they dry out before ripening, too late and the fruit is dry and prone to rot from the middle. I hope my timing is good this year as I have just picked the whole crop, a whopping 12kg (26 lbs) in one go. The reason for this is that, if allowed to ripen on the tree, they attract wasps in large number, which makes it impossible to pick the rest of the crop. I think I probably picked a tad too early, as a number shrivelled. Next year I think I'll leave a little later. 

I'd been expecting large losses from pear midge this year, but the spraying was obviously effective and I then forgot to thin, meaning that much of the fruit was very small. Nevertheless, the crop was still heavy enough to bend all the branches horizontal and it was a miracle none broke, especially with the strong winds we've had constantly for the last month. If a similar crop develops next year, I think thinning by 50 % would probably be advisable.

Evaluation: Morettini

A couple of fruit picked straight from the tree. Much riper than the first picking. The redder one was quite sweet and slightly buttery; the other a bit thinner and more astringent (by which I mean has more tannins). The fruit are an attractive shape and colour, very regular in shape and have very few blemishes to the skin of any kind. 

Flavour

Melting, sweet juicy, fine-texured with a thin skin and no trace of grit. More acidity than some, very evident if compared with Beth. Best eaten while slightly hard, with still traces of green still evident, as flavour falls off fairly quickly at full ripeness. One of the best varieties I grow for cooking (light poaching) probably because of the mild acidity; similar in cooked flavour/texture to Williams/Bartlett. 

8 foot tall half standard tree, grafted 2001 - 2:

7.5 kg picked

2 kg approx lost to wasps.

Total 10 kg approx, 21 lbs

Tree qualities - fairly vigourous, compact grow, resistant to scab and heavy cropping. However, flowering can be confused, with buds sometimes opening as early as December if the weather is too mild.

Wasps

I've never really had any problems with wasps before, largely because I watch my fruit ripening like a hawk and whip it off the moment I think it's ready (or just before). Consequently the wasps have rarely had an opportunity. In fact, I was struck that numbers were unusually low in 2008 and 2007.

Having had to leave fruit ripening on the tree while I was away, they have now reappeared in swarm proportions with a vengeance. I'm sure there will be complaints if I don't do something, as this tree is dropping wasp-covered fruit on the pavement. They are extremely efficient at eating whole fruits, sometimes excavating away leaving just the skin like a deflated balloon.

I managed to pick about a kilo of Morettini today before giving up. I don't have a great fear of wasps, having been covered by them many time while picking blackberries very early in my youth and never stung, but the risk of grasping one while picking was too great. I returned after dark tonight to clear up fallen/rotten ones, and pick the remainder of the crop. Even so, quite a few wasps were still crawling around, still inebriated from gorging on the fruit.

Crop: Morettini

I did manage to pop home from Wales for a few hours in the last week of July. The first crop to be ready was Morettini, which were yellowing slightly and parting easily from the spurs. I picked a couple of kilos to take home. The desert quality wasn't great, they were quite astringent for eating raw, but were perfect for poaching after about a week. Despite the brief heat-wave in June, I suspect they simply haven't had enough sun to ripen adequately. Desert quality has been good in previous years, sweet and lightly buttery but not this year. Yields were very good, but by the middle of August wasps had destroyed a good percentage of the crop (see next post).

Morettini: set

After losing such a large percentage of the crop to pear midge, I'm relieved to see there is still a fairly decent crop remaining. I found only one blackened fruitlet that the midge larvae had vacated, though this will still probably result in enough adults to ensure a bad attack again next year. I will hoe underneath regularly as an extra measure.

More Pear Midge

More bad news on pear midge infestation. I got a stepladder to investigate the top of my half-standard Morettini and found an even greater number of infected fruitlets at the top of the tree. This tree did not set any fruit last year as it flowered in January, so the midges that infected it must have travelled a fair distance.

I also found infected fruitlets on Winter Nelis, Sucrée de Montluçon and Fondante d'Automne which showed no outward symptoms other than looking slightly dehydrated (example far left). I would not have detected any on Winter Nelis if I hadn't carried out random checks. Round/conical varieties don't seem to change shape or size as greatly as the pyriform/calabasse types do in reaction to the larvae.

Morettini: set

In contrast, Morettini rarely sets more than a couple of fruits per spur (this difference between fertilised fruitlets and sterile ones is obvious very early as the second photograph shows). I don't know whether this is due to poor pollination (being the first to flower) or whether it is just a quirk of the variety. I suspect the latter, as the cordons in the main garden are all very well synchronised for overlapping pollinators, and a couple of the varieties are still apt to only set a single fruit per spur too. Curiously, it seems to be mostly the ones with a bergamot shape; the majority of the pyriform cultivars tend to set a full spur, though a varying number later drop. I will have to keep an eye on them, as this is one of the varieties that has been most prone to pear midge in the past.

Beurré Precoce de Morettini: Blossom

Morettini is a Canadian cultivar, and the first to flower in my garden. It's precocity can be something of a nuisance; in mild winters it often starts to break bud in December, though several flushes follow on, sometimes into June. I suspect this trait might make it susceptible to fireblight, but so far so good. This year it was well-behaved, and the first flowers opened on 29 March, just ahead of the neighbouring early cultivars. Full bloom by April 5 and loosing petals by April 9 after some stiff winds.

Morettini has compact upright growth, and spurs very freely, producing attractive rounded panicles.