Pear Harvest

Once more in the English farming countryside. This time pears in East Anglia. This was a much smaller affair. The pack house only had 6 or 7 people working and the growing acres much less. No need for double decker buses to ferry in the workers, just bikes.     There is no amazing fact to learn about Pears they basically grow on trees get picked, washed, packed and then stored until needed. Not rocket science. They are very prone to bruising, and the farmers biggest issue is damage from birds pecking at the fruit on the branches. This causes rot that then spreads to the undamaged fruit. The pickers have to be very careful not to cause any bruising when putting the pears into the big bins behind the tractor. The biggest costs seem to be labour and the chilling of the large storage areas.      My biggest surprise was just how many pears you get on a tree. See picture below. I was amazed the branches did not snap.