Apples and pears are closely related, but there are many differences between apples and pears in the fruit garden.
- pear trees usually live longer than apples.
- pears are fussier than apples when it comes to site. They do not like wind, but need the sun, which is probably why they were usually grown against walls.
picking-pears
- pears do better on heavy soils than apples, but pears will not grow well on light soils.
- pears flower a couple of weeks before apples, so are more prone to frost damage.
- pears suffer more in a drought than apples.
- pears are healthier than apples – not suffering from as many pests & diseases as apples.
apple-basket
- pears only store for a few weeks, whereas apples will store into April.
It is lovely to be able to grow apples and pears in the garden, but it is important to realise that there are differences in their requirements.
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The strong winds we had yesterday reminded us that we should be picking the apples, before they are blown off and bruised.
apples-on-tree
Bruised apples will not store, so we aim to pick the apples before the birds have started to feed on them and before the ripe apples are blown onto the ground.
We have separated the apples into three groups:
- perfect apples which will store well through the winter
- blemished and very slightly damaged apples, which will keep a month or two
- badly pecked, wasp eaten or bruised apples, which will be used straight away
Picking apples in the warm autumn sunshine has been a pleasure this year!
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apples
This year’s apple crop are bursting with juice and full of flavour. The wet
season is responsible for the juice, and the last few weeks of sun have
helped the flavour.
But the apples are about 20% smaller than normal. This is because of the
bad weather at the end of June and in July. The apples are normally
growing rapidly at that time, so they were badly affected.
An apple picked from the garden this year will taste better than ever!
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