Comice Pear Harvest
Yesterday, my mom and I harvested about 70 Comice pears from a small tree in my backyard. Our tree is crammed into a small space in between our house and a fence that is only about 6 or 7 feet away from the house and runs parallel to the house. The tree has grown upright in between the house and the fence. This tree was planted by the previous owners of the house. They didn’t pick the best spot, because the tree doesn’t have enough room to grow any wider. However, our Comice pear tree has managed to produce an abundance of pears nearly every year (except the years I didn’t net the tree). This is an example of how a fruit tree can be grown in a small space in a backyard and still produce high quality fruit.
In my opinion, Comice pears are the best tasting variety of pear. In fact, they are one of the best tasting fruits. The comice pears we have harvested from our tree taste even better than Bartlett pears. Our comice pears are very sweet. They are sweeter than Bartlett. Bartlett pears tend to have a bit of tartness, although I am a big fan of those pears as well. We also have a Bartlett pear tree.
Like all pears, Comice pears need to be picked while they are still unripe, and then ripened indoors. The worst thing about Comice pears is having to wait so long to eat them. Comice, Bosc, and D’Anjou pears need to be kept in a refrigerator for at least a month after harvest. After a month in cold storage, they can be brought to room temperature to ripen properly.
September 28 2009 01:02 pm | Pears
Grace on 24 Mar 2010 at 5:49 pm #
Beautiful pears! I have a comice pear tree. Last year it only had 6 fruit. It’s flowering now with lots of flower buds. What can I do to make it produce more fruit? Any tips?
admin on 25 Mar 2010 at 3:34 pm #
Having a different cultivar of a European pear to cross pollinate with it may help. However, if you are not in a prime pear growing climate, it may never produce well. Fireblight, for example, is a serious problem for pears in many areas.
Grace on 25 Mar 2010 at 6:07 pm #
Thanks! I’ve read that pears need to be planted in pairs to produce fruit. I think I might just plant another pear tree next to it.
I live in the tri-valley of the East Bay (inland from the bay area, CA). Not sure if this is a prime pear growing climate or not. If I get pears this year, I’ll be sure to pick them before they ripen and keep them in the fridge for a few weeks!
admin on 25 Mar 2010 at 9:22 pm #
You do live a prime pear growing area. Basically, most of central and northern California is great for growing pears except right along the coast. Be sure to pick another cultivar of European pear such as Bartlett for cross-pollination. Here is an example of a pear cross-pollination chart http://www.flowerworldusa.com/charts/europeanpearPollination.xls.
Your tree may not be producing many pears if it is too young (e.g., less than 5 years old) or if it is not receiving enough water during the growing season. If it didn’t grow much last spring and summer, try fertilizing it and watering it more often.