Thousands of pounds of fruit return to the earth every year without being cycled through the animal kingdom. It appears our mission is to re-route some of that bounty. Our town opened an 80 acre pear orchard for gleaning this year for the first time. When the farmers found it no longer financially productive to grow pears, they sold this prime river bottom loam.
The land had at one time grown hops. Gladiola bulbs were also grown on this soil.The town has it on the docket for a park in some future year????? An 80 acre park would be quite an expensive project. Let us hope that our town does not sell this beautiful land for yet another housing tract.
The two varieties of pears to be picked are Comice and Bosc. Both require a period of cold storage of at least 4 weeks to ripen properly. So, we make room in our refrigerators, and look for an old used frig to hold enough to last the winter. The fruit has not been sprayed, as the orchard has been "abandoned" for all purposes. It also has not traveled the average 1,500 miles, nor changed hands at least 6 times as has most of the food that comes to American tables.
As we try to assume "Locavore" status, we pick for ourselves, families, friends, and the hungry stranger we all know.
The land had at one time grown hops. Gladiola bulbs were also grown on this soil.The town has it on the docket for a park in some future year????? An 80 acre park would be quite an expensive project. Let us hope that our town does not sell this beautiful land for yet another housing tract.
The two varieties of pears to be picked are Comice and Bosc. Both require a period of cold storage of at least 4 weeks to ripen properly. So, we make room in our refrigerators, and look for an old used frig to hold enough to last the winter. The fruit has not been sprayed, as the orchard has been "abandoned" for all purposes. It also has not traveled the average 1,500 miles, nor changed hands at least 6 times as has most of the food that comes to American tables.
As we try to assume "Locavore" status, we pick for ourselves, families, friends, and the hungry stranger we all know.
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