Sunday 12 September 2010

A bowl of pears and a punnet of blueberries

Abundance is not a word that I often associate with what I grow in my 15x35ft garden. I squeeze in what I can and I kind of like our micro-harvests. But this year, I am proud to announce the arrival of a bowlful of pears.
There have been three barren years leading up to this momentous event - one fruit the first year, then a few promising small fruits in the second year were abducted by the neighbourhood squirrel. So I am quite surprised that this year they have made it through a season and look and taste like real pears. And there has been such a good turnout of fruit that I have quite profligately left two to rot - I missed their falling, so the wasps had already started to attack them. The question is what to do with the rest of them? 22 in total, to be precise - which I think qualifies as a bumper crop.
They need to ripen a little off the tree, and will store for a month or so in a cool dark place, but I can't get the image of a pear tarte tatin out of my mind. Pears poached in red wine are also a favourite pudding. But I'd like to try preserving some - I remember my grandmother preserving peaches in Italy and I'm sure the same alcoholic method can be applied to pears. I found some good, if slightly cursory recipes here, but I'd love any tried-and-tested suggestions.
The almost-a-punnet's worth of blueberries is a much easier proposition - blueberry pancakes. No contest.

4 comments:

  1. I don't like pears but I would, nevertheless, be thrilled if I grew twenty-two fruits and would definitely call it a bumper harvest.

    I too have a small garden and have been excited by how many bunches of grapes there are on my vine this year. Trouble is, a black mould has arrived on some of them and I doubt if any will ripen. Heat and rain have not come at convenient times!

    Esther Montgomery

    ReplyDelete
  2. A bumper harvest indeed, very nice! I love pears, so much that we planted four different varieties here this spring, but it will be a few years before they yield much fruit. I haven't tried preserving them, as most in my kitchen find their way into a 'torte di pere alla paesana', or poached in red wine and served over a salad.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Esther - you might be able to save some bunches by removing the afflicted grapes. But next year try spraying regularly with bordeaux mixture - it's what they use in vineyards.
    And Curbstone Valley - I'm liking the sound of your 'torta di pere...'. Can you share the recipe?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for the grape advice. I've been wondering whether to take away affected bunches. Seems sad - but is that what I should do? Are they edible if washed?

    Esther

    ReplyDelete