You will never get a soft pear tree before the birds, wasps, squirrels etc do. If they are sweet, pick them now, and keep them inside. The warmer it is the faster they ripen.

August 27th is date to pick pears and put away for ripening takes about 2 weeks in storeage to start riping. Old tail about pears is pick august 27th put in pantry cool dark place on shelf they ripen and not be grainy but willbe soft and sweet. It works for me everytime don't stack pears 4 to 6 weeks and they be so good.

Thank you both...guess I'll be picking pears today! Donna

Here's a link to the best information I've read on the subject:

RE: pears http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fruit/msg101057145319.html?2

Mark, that message doesn't load for me. Different pears need to be picked at different times and they need something like two weeks in the fridge before they are ready to be eaten. I have been told to pick them when they give a bit under strong pressure to the top by the stem. See link below for the basics. I am finally getting my first European pears this year; they are almost ready but they are still like rocks by the stem so I am going to wait a bit longer.

Scott

Here is a link that might be useful: pear picking and eating tips.

I started picking my pears mid June. By mid July the squirrels were having haydays (weeks) with em. I picked my last pear late July, and it was a bit grainy. Next year I will try to have all my pears picked by July 15th.

Pears ripen well on the kitchen counter. If left to ripen on the tree they loose the soft/smooth texture and get grainy. The first couple I picked were hard and tasted more like apples than pears. These softened after about a week. Maybe my variety ripens earlier than gator's. It is almost certainly a different variety from yours (8b vs 5). Just start picking when they get sweet, and get crackin' when they start to blush.