not far from the tree

Last night I was greeted by two beautiful pears when I arrived home. Rachel led a gleaning team on our first pear pick then generously left me two to sample. Antonietta led another team this morning, and yet another package arrived at my doorstep. Fresh, local, beautiful, hand-picked pears – wow!

We’re learning more and more about when to harvest pears, what signs of colour to look for and how firm they should be. Turns out they should be picked before they ripen to ensure they do not rot, but we’re not clear when is too early. Are there any knowledgeable pear pickers out there who can offer some advice?

I hope to post some photos of the pear expeditions soon, but in the meantime let’s celebrate the success of this year’s apricot crop once again! Stan Krzyzanowski has isolated his time-lapse photography so that we can see how the branches lift the more we pick. Check it out here. Can you sense how liberated the branches must feel after we’ve come for a picking visit?!? He shows the clip backwards and forwards so we can see the branches lift and then fall then lift again.

Update: Photos of the pear pick have now been posted on our Flickr site.