Crop: Sucrée de Montluçon

Just under 4 Kg from my super-productive little stepover this year. I left them on the tree as long as I could this year, and this is the first time they have ripened sufficiently (I usually end up using them under-ripe as cooking pears). Fully ripened they are slightly perfumed, soft, coarse and slightly granular but very sweet, nearer catalogue descriptions. Skins were quite tough and papery though. Ideally this variety needs a long season in addition to a warm location, and picking should be left as late as possible.

Crop: Glou Morceau

A tidy 3 kg of these this year, from quite a young cordon, in about 4 year now I think. In previous years I've mostly cooked them as they stay quite hard for so long, but will let these ripen to evaluate them properly this year. A small late mid-season pear with fine texture.

Crop: Bishop's Thumb

Had been picking an eating these without thinking, so I thought I'd weigh the last few and estimate the crop. We had at least a dozen on the half-grown arch in the front, so I think the crop was at least a Kg. I left some too long on the tree, which meant the odd one had gone brown from the core, but those that were just right had a magnificent 'fondante' quality, very sweet and soft. The flavour would have to be described as 'bittersweet', there is a hint of bitterness but it doesn't detract from the overall flavour. The texture is soft and rather coarse, the antithesis of a 'butter' pear but I find they make a nice contrast in a mixed pear platter.

Crop: Red Comice

This is the first year when Comice has produced a full crop, very good quality with large fruits, total over 5kg, the largest few weighing in at about .5kg or 1lb each! These are my great hope for the village show next Sunday. I usually like to pick the night before, but the danger of damage from the mini-hurricane that is predicted tomorrow is too great. I hope they won't look too tired after a week in storage.

Crop: Comice

A good quality crop of Comice, some nicely blushed from the (non-existant) sun. Moderate crop of 4kg. Box filled out with Glou Morceaux, probably about 2 kg worth (can't be bothered to measure small quantities on young trees).

Crop - Concorde

Decided to pick as much mid-season fruit as possible today, as there ex-tropical storm Katja is on the way for tomorrow, and I don't want the crop wasted as windfalls. Crop was a good 5.5 kg.

Also picked kg of Conference.

Crop: Vranja

A good crop again, 11.5 kg (25 lb) not counting the early windfalls. The scent is wonderful.

crop: Pixie and Rosemary Russet (our late varieties)

A very disappointing crop of both Pixie and Rosemary Russet, our late apple cultivars. Rosemary was probably having a slightly 'biennial' year after cropping well last year, but Pixie was very badly affected by codling moth for the first time, leaving us with only one medium-sized box to see us through into Spring.

Crop: Winter Nelis

A much better crop of Winter Nelis this year, weighing in at 3.5 kg, despite quite high losses to squirrel damage at various points. Picked October 16, for reference.

Crop: Sucrée de Montluçon

I deliberately restricted the crop of Sucree de Montluçon to 7 fruit, as I wanted some decent-sized ones to enter in the culinary pear category at the local show, though in the end I did not bother. The theory worked, and I had nice, large even crop, which started dropping this week. The small crop weighed in at a respectable 2.1 kg (nearly 4.5 lbs).

Sucrée is an odd pear, and I can't say I'd agree with other descriptions of its qualities. The texture is very coarse (see photo) and slightly gritty, but very juicy like slightly chewy melon. The flavour is sweet with a slight aromatic quality reminiscent of guava or star-fruit, though overall a bit thin. I usually cook them while still hard. I expected the very hard, green ones I prepared today to be under-ripe, but one just starting to yellow was just right for eating raw.

crop: fondante d'automne

These have started falling, which prompted me to pick and store them properly. Today's crop weighed 5 kg, in addition to 1 kg spoiled on ground and 1 kg sold at local shop, making yield just 7 kg or just under 15 lbs in total, rather more in total than last year. The fruit has not coloured as much as last year, looking back, which has been the case with the early pears (which had less flavour than usual). Small amount of superficial tortrix moth damage.

Crop: Devoe

Having found them a little disappointing last year, I forgot to pick any of the few that the squirrels left this year. My husband brought me some for breakfast today, and they were much better, skins less hard and papery than last year probably because of the recent lack of sun. Note to self: pick around the same time as Beth (last week of August) as once they have started to yellow, the core will turn soft very rapidly.

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.

Crop: Conference

Decided to pick the remaining mid-season pears today, as the squirrel damage was getting out of hand.

I weighed today's picking of Conference which came to about 10.5 kgs. Including the ones that have been eaten already, or discarded because of damage, the whole crop from this double cordon was about 12 kg in total, about 26 lbs. Far more than we can eat, my husband will have to take some with him on his weekly egg round.