I have about 18 varieties of pears in my home orchard. They do taste better than store pears, but there is a trick to picking them. Do not let those pears fully ripen on the
tree (except for Asian & Seckel Pears). They will taste bad if you do- they turn astringent. Pick them green, but when fully grown in size- a few on the
tree may already to start to turn color. You need to ripen them off the
tree for best flavor. You do not need to thin pears like you do with apples, although fruit will be bigger if you do thin. Anytime the ground is workable you can
plant pear
trees in late winter or
spring.
plant in Full sun. You usally need 2 different kinds of pears for pollination, although some are self fertile. Prune your
trees well before they leaf out- preferably in late winter for fireblight reasons. Fireblight is a disease that can decimate a pear
tree. It is at its worst during
spring wet weather. Look into some limb spreaders for your
trees too, as they tend to grop upright close to the central leader.