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What would you do?  My trees are full of what looks like mature size fruit. I have conference and  william. Do I pick them now and ripen in the bowl or wait until they ripen on the trees.

The reason I ask is that it has been a bit gusty lately and I am getting quite a few windfalls that are bruised and are only fit for cooking. I know they will all ripen at the same time, but the family will have most of them, at the same time I would like them to have the undamaged ones.

I have put a few conference windfalls  in a box a few weeks ago  for ripening but they seemed to go dull and the skins appeared to dry up and wrinkle.

For storage it would be better to carefully pick fruit from the tree then if time and space permit, wrap each pear in newspaper and store on a shelf somewhere cool.

Ace I've just been reading up about pears prior to buying a couple of trees. All the advice seems to suggest they should be ripened off the tree.

Thanks for the replies. I thought as much, as the ones she used to buy had to sit in the bowl a week before they were fit to eat.

My first serious pear harvest, trees have been in the orchard garden 5 years and are a bit tall and full of fruit. Not bad for some of Woolies 99p bargains. It looks like I will be busy for a couple of hours.

When they were younger and only put out a few fruits, I let them drop and stay on the grass. I had a lot of trouble with my dog who took a liking to them and they really upset his tummy. Had me and the vet puzzled for a while, untill I caught him eating them.

http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=101

I have just made these from my daughter's glut of rather firm small pears, and it is delicious. Just a bit sweet, so I will put in less sugar next time.