| Author |
Garden Gate:  Where did my almost ripe pears go?  |
|
|
Hideaway Farmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
1553 Posts
Jo
Virginia
USA
1553 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 21 2006 : 10:03:16 AM
|
Farmgirls...they disappeared, every single one of them! When we bought the farm we had two scruffy looking pear trees which were loaded with fruit last year, and this past March we pruned them. They have been growing fine and developing fruit, so have been watching and waiting for September when they would be ready. There were pears on both trees up until last weekend, honest! Now...not a one in sight! This is the same month we picked them last year, and the rest that fell were devoured by the cows in the field where they are located.
I would suspect the cows for taking the fruit hanging on the lower branches, but both trees are about 20 feet high and I cannot see a single pear on either one.
Any ideas? Have we been pear-burgled?
Jo |
|
|
DaisyFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
1646 Posts
Diane
Victoria
BC
Canada
1646 Posts |
Posted - Sep 21 2006 : 10:12:23 AM
|
LOL...you have squirrels down there?? My transparent apple tree made a nice stash for some squirrel and as I sit here this morning, I see this little beggar running back and forth across my front lawn, spartan apple in mouth. Guess I'll pick apples this afternoon! A friend picked 40 pounds of walnuts and put them on her deck. When she got home from work the same day, every single one was gone.
Di
|
 |
|
|
sunshine
True Blue Farmgirl
4877 Posts
Wendy
Utah
USA
4877 Posts |
|
|
Hideaway Farmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
1553 Posts
Jo
Virginia
USA
1553 Posts |
Posted - Sep 21 2006 : 10:20:31 AM
|
Diane, we do have squirrels, never thought of that. THese pears are slightly smaller than Bartlett pears you buy in the store, but they stay hard like a crisp apple.
Sunshine, I hope no one else picked them...last year the farmer we rent the fields to did pick some, but he knows we like them too. I am hapy to share, and cannot believe he would have picked off every last one, especially since he needs a ladder to get to the top of at least one of the trees.
Jo |
|
|
|
BarefootGoatGirl
True Blue Farmgirl
1495 Posts
Corrine
North Carolina
USA
1495 Posts |
Posted - Sep 21 2006 : 10:27:36 AM
|
Jo,
I lost every peach off my 4 small trees this summer. When I got to investigating, I found lots of peach pits laying around. Some interrigation revealed that my youngest son had eaten every last one of them (explains the frequent toilet runs)!
Trina
'
Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds. Proverbs 27:23 |
|
|
|
Hideaway Farmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
1553 Posts
Jo
Virginia
USA
1553 Posts |
Posted - Sep 21 2006 : 10:30:30 AM
|
Trina, your son ate them all? How old is he? I don't have any little ones running around, but I will investigate further for evidence of peach pits anywhere.
Uh, has your son been to Virginia recently? LOL
Jo |
|
|
|
Mumof3
True Blue Farmgirl
3890 Posts
Karin
Ellenwood
GA
USA
3890 Posts |
Posted - Sep 21 2006 : 11:09:07 AM
|
Do you have crows? My friend had a pear tree and the crows perch at the top and eat all the pears they can hold!! And they look very guilty when you catch them at it!!
Karin |
|
|
|
brightmeadow
True Blue Farmgirl
2045 Posts
Brenda
Lucas
Ohio
USA
2045 Posts |
Posted - Sep 21 2006 : 12:57:48 PM
|
We were at the farm for one day last weekend while I attended a knitting machine seminar... I didn't spend much time in the orchard but I noticed that the pear tree in front of the house I had picked from the lower branches only two weeks before was totally empty, all the way to the top of the tree. When the pears get ripe they just fall off, then deer will come and eat them...
I read somewhere that Bartlett pears don't can well if you wait to pick them until they are ripe, you have to pick them while they are just a little underripe and then let them ripen off the tree (maybe the reason is that they disappear?)
You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands - You shall be happy and it shall be well with you. -Psalm 128.2
Visit my blog at http://brightmeadowfarms.blogspot.com ,web site store at http://www.watkinsonline.com/fish or my homepage at http://home.earthlink.net/~brightmeadow |
|
|
|
Hideaway Farmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
1553 Posts
Jo
Virginia
USA
1553 Posts |
Posted - Sep 25 2006 : 05:59:28 AM
|
I think that's what happened. There were some rotten pears on the ground, and since I know the cows love them, they must have all fallen off on the weekend we were NOT there and teh bovines had a (literally) field day. I will have to mark my calendar for next year to pick them in late August, or early September.
Trina, I guess this means your son is off the hook. LOL
Jo |
|
|
| |
Garden Gate: Where did my almost ripe pears go? |
|
Where did my almost ripe pears go?
