Pears for Days

You might recall that our fruit trees here on Gael Glen Farm got hit by a very late frost this past spring.  As a result, our orchards are experiencing a greatly reduced yield this fall. We grew next to no apples, no pears, no plums and only three, somewhat sad looking, bunches of grapes.

Luckily, this compromised harvest was not the case for everyone. Some of the fruit trees in our neighbourhood - perhaps in more frost resistant micro-climates - are now absolutely loaded with fruit. We are very grateful to have neighbours who readily share their fruit crop with us - they even contact us when the fruit is ready to pick! We gift them honey in return for their generosity but something tells me that they would share with us even if we didn't come bearing liquid gold.

Recently I have been listening to Robin Wall Kimmerer's book, "Braiding Sweetgrass" during my daily walks.  In it she discusses the indigenous concept of the "honourable harvest". The tenets include things like: asking the tree's permission to share in its bounty and respecting its answer, only taking what you can use, never taking more than half of the total crop, and never wasting what you take.

All this to say that I am beyond thrilled with our pear harvest this year. The actual fruit may not be from our own trees but it was harvested honourably and was a gift gratefully received. I was also happy to help relieve some of the strain on the sagging branches of this incredibly fecund, but now somewhat overburdened, fruit tree.

Now to let the fruit ripen a few more days and then we will can it in a light syrup for healthy and easy desserts and snacks all year long.  Wait a minute - more pears means that we will need more jars!