Gardening tips: How to grow pears in Canberra

The best pears are those that have just ripened but are still firm to the touch. All pears need to complete their ripening process after being picked from the tree. The best way to foster this ripening is to store the pears at a low temperature for one or two weeks after picking them.

Modern pears owe much to the research and dedication of breeders in northern France and Belgium back in the 18th and 19th centuries. Some of the early breeders were living in monasteries and the timeframes were long. As with apples, there are literally thousands of varieties of pears grown around the world but a small number can be regarded as pears of distinction.

It can take up to 20 years to produce a fine tasting pear of distinction, as they would first need to select two parents, and grow those varieties away from other potential crosses. Then the seeds produced would need to be planted and trees allowed to grow. If one of the newly crossed pear trees produced a potentially good fruit, it would need to be checked for flavour, its looks, for its keeping abilities, disease resistance, and general productivity. If these qualities were rated highly, then grafting of cuttings would begin to expand its production.

One of the delights with growing pear trees is that you can espalier them very easily. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Versailles in France, take an hour or two to walk across from the palace to le potager du roi. This kingly garden has been maintained and has rows upon rows of varieties of pears (and apples). There is a saying "as the apple is to the English, so the pear is to the French".

Three of the late season pears of distinction were bred in southern Belgium or northern France, as were many of the earlier maturing varieties, including the beurre bosc, doyenne du comice and the rouge d'Anjou. The late season pears are all very different from each other and have complimentary qualities for getting through the winter months.

Winter nelis is one of the last pears to ripen during the harvest season. This variety was raised from seed by M. Jean Charles Nelis, in Mechlin, Belgium, early in the 19th century. Within a few years it was being marketed and cuttings were being taken to England. It arrived in the United States in 1823.

The Josephine pear is an early winter eating pear of excellent quality. It originated in Malines, Belgium, in 1830. This is a smaller pear than some but it has a wonderful texture and when fully ripe the flesh is sweet, soft and melting with a rich flavour. Its light green smooth skin will become pale yellow in colour when it is fully ripe.

Winter nelis pear is an excellent little pear though it is wrapped in a non-distinct russeted dull-green skin. They are small in size but are known as the honey pear as the flesh is fine flavoured and aromatic. It is juicy and sweet though its flesh remains firm, so it is a great fresh eating pear and it is an ideal size for the lunch boxes of children. Serve it on cheese platters. It is also great for bottling to use when making pies and also for pear cakes. Winter nelis is an excellent keeping pear.

Another international late pear of distinction is the conference pear. It has an elongated shape a little like the beurre bosc pear but can look quite slender in appearance. Its skin is mid green in colour. It is a pear that does take some weeks to fully ripen after picking. We picked our first small crop two weeks ago and they are sitting in our coolroom to fully ripen. They are great for poaching and also to serve with cheese platters.

The conference pear arose as an open seedling from the Leon Leclerc de Laval pear in Belgium but was then taken and promoted in England by Thomas Rivers. Its name was finalised when it won first prize at the National British Pear Conference in London in 1885. It is grown now mainly in England and France.

Oven-Roasted Pears

Oven-roasted pears are easy to prepare and will provide you with a delicious winter dessert that enhances the rich flavours of the fruit.

8 winter nelis Pears

80g butter

150g castor sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

juice of 2 lemons

Preheat the oven to 150C. Peel the pears and halve. Carefully remove the cores using a small melon scoop spoon. Melt the butter in a medium-sized baking dish. Place the pears in the baking dish cut side down and baste with the butter. Sprinkle the castor sugar and cinnamon over the pears and drizzle with the lemon juice. Cover tightly with foil and roast for 30 minutes. Turn the pears and baste with the syrupy juices and return to the oven for a further 30-40 minutes until the pears are tender.

Serve warm with cream or ice cream.

NB: You can roast thick slices of quince in the same way, but will need to cook for 2-2½ hours for them to become tender.

This week in the garden

There is still time to plant our onion seeds early enough to get the seedlings into the ground by the middle of the year. Soil temperatures have also held up so you can still plant out broad beans, field peas and sugar snap peas for an early spring harvest. They will naturally build the nitrogen levels in the garden for later summer plantings.

If you have planted out garlic this autumn, take the time to weed around the little shoots before the grass from recent rains take over.

Late May is the time for cleaning up around your garden and any fruit trees that you have. Collect up any fallen fruit and remove any mummified stone fruit from the branches of your stone fruit trees. Rake up your fallen leaves and add to the compost.

Begin digging over the soil where you intend to plant out fruit trees, berries or other deep soil plantings over winter.

Complete pruning your stone fruit trees that will heal well in the winter days, that is plum, peach and nectarine. They will usually need to be pruned heavily, taking out inward growing branches and reducing the height of the remaining branches, to keep fruit production manageable.

Owen Pidgeon runs the Loriendale Organic Orchard near Hall.