Harvest of the Month
September
Pears
Let's learn all about Pears
- Color: Pears come in many different colors, such as green, yellow, brown, and red. Just like picking out your favorite crayons, you can choose pears in different colors to enjoy different flavors.
- Shape: Pears are shaped a bit like a curvy, gentle lightbulb. This unique shape helps pears grow on tree branches without falling off. It also makes them easy to hold and eat when they're ripe and juicy!
- Flavor: Each pear has a unique flavor, from the buttery-sweet Bartlett to the tart Bosc and the sweet little Seckel. The skin and the flesh taste slightly different so be sure to eat them both.
- Ripening: Pears are picked hard and need to ripen to get to their maximum sweetness. Most varieties taste best when they give to a gentle squeeze around the stem. Leave them on the counter (out of direct sunlight) for a couple days.
- Harvest: California pears are harvested from late July through September. The main growing areas are the counties along the upper Sacramento valley and river delta and Mendocino, Lake and El Dorado counties.