Apples and Pears

[Paul mabbott]

Pears are strange things - may take weeks to ripen and then, overnight, turn into a tasteless brown pulp. Bonne Chretienne are my favourite (certainly don't seem to be a British variety) .... Do pears need slightly warmer conditions than apples? You certainly don't see (and never did see) many of them growing in UK while they are widely planted in Britanny and across Europe. Perhaps because other countries have a history of perry drinking?
Incidentally there was a 'green and craft' fair in the city yesterday and I tasted a Ribston Pippin (sharp, sweet and crunchy) which seems to be a local speciality - the best grower for Yorkshire, I'm told. The ones they had were quite small which, I think is a good thing - some of mine this year have grown so large that they're a meal in themselves!

Originally Posted by Airehead

Bought some English-grown Comice pears today. Haven't tried them yet because they are hard. I must admit I have never got to know pears except to form the impression that English ones are not particularly good. If anyone disagrees, please speak now. I have seen new season Russett apples in both Sainsbury and Morrison supermarkets recently.

[honeybee]

They were grown against a warm wall in Victorian walled gardens. They do taste better warmed by the sun. I was told once that if you wanted to ripen fruit quickly, put it next to bananas.

[Paul mabbott]

Yes, ripe fruits give off ethylene which encourages ripening. Green tomatos are said to ripen better if they're in a drawer with a ripe apple - but I suppose any fruit might do?

In fact, manufacturers use this to ripen fruit - they ship green(ish) fruit and then expose them to ethylene (a petrochemical) to ripen just before selling. I prefer the natural way!

Originally Posted by honeybee

They were grown against a warm wall in Victorian walled gardens. They do taste better warmed by the sun. I was told once that if you wanted to ripen fruit quickly, put it next to bananas.

[Paul mabbott]

Was reminded of this yesterday when in Totley: a suburb of Sheffield (about as far south as you can go in Yorkshire without falling off the edge of the world) which still retains some vilage characteristics - including two greengrocers. One of these had, or so he said, fifteen varieties of apples of which several were locally grown. You could actually smell the different fruit scents outside on the pavement. What a difference from a supermarket!

Originally Posted by Airehead

I agree absolutely that the variety must be chosen for the locality - and this is the point, that the south of England seems to be the best locality for the best flavoured apples. I don't enjoy this, being in Yorkshire where Cox's don't succeed, but I do believe that the evidence establishes the fact.
And I would like to affirm that this is a matter of logic, not of misplaced patriotism. After all, I would not suggest that the best pomegranates are English.

[Jon]

Originally Posted by nightshade

Apple trees are very good for wildlife (more than one is even better) there are many english apples but does anyone still grow them? I remember a large dessert apple with a smokey flavour but cannot recall the name
Pears, how many varieties are there and are they good for wildlife?

I've got apples, pears and plums in the back garden, the wasps get 70%, the foxes say 10%, the birds 10% and I get 10%........if I can remember to pick them, Jon

[Paul mabbott]

If it weren't for stringent measures, the squirrel would have, or ruin, 99% of ours. I don't resent birds or wasps but the grey ****** no!

Originally Posted by Jon

I've got apples, pears and plums in the back garden, the wasps get 70%, the foxes say 10%, the birds 10% and I get 10%........if I can remember to pick them, Jon

[henrya]

Irish Apples - Ballyfatten, Green Chisel, Green Sweet, Red Kane and Jane Moyle seem to be Irish, also, one assumes, Irish Peach, Irish Giant and Irish Greening.

Welsh Apples - probably Bevan's Seedling.

Whether these are still grown I do not know.

henrya