I got all geared up for pear harvesting yesterday, finding a large box for the numerous pears I remembered seeing on the tree the last time I checked on them a few weeks ago and enlisting A. to come as my body guard, wielding an ax handle to protect me from Don Juan the ram. Donnie does love his pears. Then we got up to the pasture and I literally stopped short in astonishment.
There were no pears on the tree.
Well, let me amend that: Closer examination revealed a total of three pears on the tree. Three. THREE. What in the hell?
I could not imagine what happened to all those pears I saw just a few weeks ago. The MiL suggested maybe some of the high winds we had a little while ago just blew them all off the tree and the sheep ate them off the ground. But even she was astonished that ALL of the pears (okay, okay--all except three pears) disappeared.
We got a couple of dozen from the smaller pear tree a few weeks ago, so we have been eating some, but there will be no pear canning this year. There was no pear canning last year, either, thanks to the cold, wet summer we had. The year before that, though, I canned 39 quarts of pears. Nature is fickle, indeed.
Oh well. Gives me more time to deal with the crazy harvest of Concord grapes I'll be faced with this week. And the tomatoes, of course. Always the tomatoes. Never fear, duckies--a shortage of pears doesn't mean a shortage of sweaty hours spent canning in the kitchen.
Isn't THAT a relief.
9 comments:
I'm doing peaches (35 quarts done and at least 28 more to go) and pears today. Cheated and bought them at a local farm stand though.
Sheila
Could Donnie have eaten them? Or would there be more evidence if that had been the case?
Perhaps A. and the MiL have been doing some private snacking and are unwilling to admit it. =)
You didn't dream the pears' existence, did you?
UFOs?
Sneaky pear robbers in the night?
Wind and sheep sounds very likely. Beth
Since me trying to garden is cruelty to plants, I buy all (well, as much as I can) my produce at the local farmer's market that happens every Thursday. This past week I bought some pears. That are quite literally the most delicious pears I have ever eaten.
I am sorry for your loss of pears.
It wasn't me.
Deer maybe?
When I went to visit my mom last summer I went out back the first day and noticed tons of apples on her apple tree. A few days later I went back out and there were none, not a single one, not even on the ground. (And it was July, so they weren't ripe yet.) At first we suspected a thief, but that seemed a little ballsy for in town. So all we can guess is deer. But you would think they might have left a few half eaten on the ground or something. Aliens maybe?
Weird. Disappearing pears? I guess you'd be able to identify anyone who stole the pears by the Donnie the Ram shaped dent in their backside though.
On a less scary note - have we talked about your grapes? Because I'm planting Concords next year and have approximately 1000 questions on the subject.
Question 1: How long after planting do they take to produce? Will they set fruit their first season in the ground?
Aww crap - your canned pears are my fav :( Stupid winds... Maybe next year.
Moi
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