I suspect that the tree you ate from as a kid was in a colder climate, and the pears had a little chill time before you ate them. Is that possible? Alternatively the pear you have was mislabelled. It's been known to happen.

Try picking the pears, or at least several of them, as soon as they begin to shift color and the neck gives a bit when you pinch it. Stick them in the fridge for at least a few days, or maybe a couple of weeks, and then leaving a few out at a time to soften on the countertop. Conventional wisdom is that many pears seem to need this.

I hope this helps point you in the right direction.

Bartlett at least in Kansas are the only pear we can eat from the tree. Typically they ripen here in July or August. Maybe it's not a Bartlett.

Bartlett is the only European pear we can eat from the tree I should have said. marknmt I just noticed you said possible mislabeling I should have caught that. Clapp's favorite for example cannot be left on the tree because it turns brown on the inside before ripening on the outside.

Yes the pears I picked & ate as a kid were in a colder climate - southern MI. I will try your advice about picking them & sticking them in the fridge. I'm hoping that will work :)

Thank you markmnt & clarkinKS for replying. I appreciate it :)

Bartlets don't ripen on the tree. We ripened our bartlets in our basement. I think the fridge would be too cold. A week or so and they were golden yellow and soft.

Here is a picture of what we picked. You can see how green they were.

And maybe it is not actually a Bartlett. Bartlett drops off the tree fairly early- they are on the ground by the first week of Sept. here, dead ripe. They can be harvested crisp-ripe off the tree and softened indoors in our climate- I actually prefer them straight of the tree. They can be grown in S. CA, and years ago were grown there commercially, so I doubt you are too warm for it.

There is a variety that used to be grown a lot for pickling that is virtually immune to fireblight and bears every year. Can't remember the name at the moment. Here they are not edible until almost Nov. when they turn yellow on the tree. They look a lot like Bartlett although larger and bumpier and are much easier for non-specialty nurseries to propagate because they are bullet-proof. They have a spectacular bloom.

This post was edited by harvestman on Tue, Sep 30, 14 at 17:55