I
suggested that we buy a box of pears to dry during this stay at the farm. Mike
asked why we didn’t just pick the pears from our own old tree. So, I didn’t buy
a box of pears.
Instead,
I arose on this smoky morning to refresh my memory on how to handle the pears. I found an
online article through the extension service of Oregon State University. Pears
don’t ripen on the tree, it said. Instead, you have to pick them at the right
moment, and that’s when they snap off the tree when pulled horizontally. Then
the pears must be placed in cold storage (30 degrees) for a day or two. After
that they need four to five days at room temperature. Some people ripen the
pears by placing them in brown paper bags with a ripe banana. I think there’s a
lot of margin for error in this process. There’s something to be said for
buying the box of pears, lovely fruit picked by experts who provided the right
kind of cold storage.
But
of course, picking from the old tree, the only remaining tree of a vintage
orchard, appeals to the homesteader in us, so that’s what we did. I enlisted Mike’s
services to climb the ladder and pick the fruit off the higher branches, which
he agreed to do after target practice.
Many
of the pears were just out of reach, so Mike sent me to the woodshed to get his
snake tongs. That worked well as far as reaching and picking the fruit.
The
only cold storage available is the refrigerator, already loaded with our food.
However, I was able to clean out the bottom drawer and put most of the best
pears there. The rest I had to stash here and there in the fridge with the
exception of some culls that I put in the cooler with ice cubes.
We
wonder if they picked pears back in the day. Pears won’t ripen without a spell
in cold storage, so how did they manage that without refrigeration? Did they
use the cellar? It wouldn’t have been 30 degrees unless they brought in some
ice, and maybe they did.
If
we were dependent upon my garden for sustenance, I’m afraid we would waste
away. There’s always cake . . . KW
4 comments:
You've done an amazing job of getting all those pears into your frig!! Looks like you harvested a great crop. :-) (And a better use for the tongs than getting snakes!! Or least a more pleasant use!)
Guess you can call them "snake pears." It can be a family story/inside joke.
I often wonder about times gone by and the foods our ancestors enjoyed (or maybe didn't enjoy). When you think about older generations and their food preferences, it's very likely they learned to like what they were served. Case in point...pears.
My mother would let them ripen. And ripen. And Ripen...until they were a dark mushy mess. She loved them that way. I wonder now if it wasn't because that's the way she ate pears when she was a child.
I bought two large boxes of pears through our church's relief society organization. They were raised, picked and packed in Oregon and brought all the way to southern Utah by a dedicated member to fill the orders that had been made two months ago. They were beautiful, but green when they arrived five days ago on Wed. They have been kept in a dark closet at room temp and are just starting to turn yellow (some of them, that is). I will put the yellow ones in the fridge and hope I will have at least a canner full to do on Monday. My canner holds seven quarts.
The fridge heaved a sigh of relief when I took the pears out this afternoon. I'm rather relieved to have them out of there, too.
I wouldn't say my mother preferred her fruit overripe, but she did love fruit and if it was overripe she would tolerate it. I, on the other hand, prefer my apples sweet/tart and crisp, my pears firm and mellow, my bananas just past green. If it's overripe, forget it. I'm not eating it. (Spoiled '50's kid.)
Joanne -- I envy you those beautiful pears.
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