Pear orchard · Year round

A year of pears

The pear grower's year does not start in January. It begins in autumn, after the last fruit is picked, and moves toward the next harvest.

Cycle

After harvest, toward harvest again

In the field, one continuous year runs from care for the coming spring, through protecting blossom and fruit, to the harvest season once more.

Timing shifts with variety and the weather of each year.

Autumn–winter

Pruning & training

After harvest, branches are shaped and trained so blossom and fruit can be borne well next year. Even in the cold, this work lays the foundation for the crop ahead.
Late Apr.–early May

Blossom

White blossom opens and the orchard fills with the scent of spring. If you wish, we may show you the orchard in blossom season.
Spring

Pollination

Pollen is applied to open blossom so fruit can form. It is painstaking work at the heart of pear growing.
Spring

Fruit set

As pollination succeeds, tiny fruitlets appear on the branch tips. From here, the year of tending each fruit begins in earnest.
Early summer

Thinning

Many fruitlets appear on each spur; to grow one large, sweet pear, we thin until about eight on a branch become one. It is painstaking work distinctive to pear growing.
Early summer–summer

Bagging

Each fruit left on the tree is covered with a bag to protect it from insects and sunscald. On the trellis, white bags line up with the fruit.
Autumn

Harvest

Bags are removed and ripe pears are picked by hand. Fruit from the field reaches the table, and as autumn ends, pruning for the next year begins again.