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September brings the last of our pears to be harvest. We have some pear trees in our orchard that can be harvested in August, but our one Bosc pear tree does its thing in the middle of September. Since we do not can or preserve much of anything in our old age we give most of our orchard harvest away and we did the same with the Bosc pears yesterday by bringing them to a young friend with a family who still does those things and we keep about twelve or sixteen for ourselves.

September is also the month our son, Don, sends us some wonderful Bartlett pears from his gift fruit company in Florida . They always arrive in perfect condition ready to be eaten within a few days of their arrival.

So let's talk a little about pears which are cousins of apples. The American variety of pears originally arrived in this country from Europe where they migrated from Central Asia .

It was the early colonist who came to our country who brought the first trees and they thrived quite well in the Eastern part until severe blights almost wiped them out.

Today most pears are grown west of the Rockies where diseases seem to be less of a problem. However, that should not discourage you from planting some pear trees in your orchards or gardens. Just make sure you buy ones that are guaranteed to grow in your zones. Ours do well and since we are organic gardeners we do not spray them and we get bumper crops to give away.

To determine when all pears are ripe enough to eat one should apply gentle pressure to the stem end of the pear with one's thumb and should the pear yield slightly then the pear is ready to eat. Should it still remain hard then it should be left out at room temperature for one to three days to ripen. One must check daily and a Bartlett pear will change color as it ripens.

Once the Bartlett pears are ripe then put them in the coldest part of your refrigerator and they will last two or three days. If you do not like to eat cold pears then take out what you want to eat a couple of hours before serving let them warm up to room temperature.

Should you wish to prevent immediate browning on a cut pear simply squeeze fresh lemon juice on top.

Bartlett pears are sweet and really juicy making them ideal for cooking especially for baking and poaching.

Pears are low in calories general having about 86 calories per pear. They have no fat, saturated fat, Cholesterol zero, zero in sodium, very low in Carbohydrates, sugar is about 15g, and protein is about 1 g and is full of Vitamins A, C, Calcium and iron making it a great healthy treat.

I hope you enjoy the painting I did of two of the Bartlett Pears and you can see how I use them.

"Tread the Earth Lightly" and in the meantime May your day be filled with Peace, Light and Love,



Author's note: This article was originally written for GreenThumbArticles.com