An Abundance of Pears

There is an old, old pear tree on our neighbors place and they were kind enough to share with us again this year. Last year there were a lot of pears, but due to the very hot, dry conditions, they were pretty small. We made our first pear butter out of them. This year there are still a lot of pears, not as many as last year, but they are almost three times as big! And, we got three times as many! We thank God daily for all that He provides for us.

Our goal is to can pear slices and more pear butter. The butter will make great Christmas presents and we can share with some of the older folks at church that don’t can anymore.

We found out last year that collecting pears was much easier if we shook the limb and let them fall to the ground. This may cause a little bruising, but the ground has a fairly thick layer of grass that cushions the fall and this technique was much easier on our bodies that working from a ladder. Finding alternative ways to do things increases our productivity and success in many different ways.

This year we decided to take our shepherd’s crook with us to see if we could shake the lower limbs with it. It worked great!

In some places, the grass is tall enough to make it almost like an Easter egg hunt.

Without using the ladder at all, we filled up all 6 of our five gallon buckets. Some are still pretty green. I will let them sit for a few days before I start peeling and slicing for canning.

I am so excited and grateful to be able to put up some more nourishing fruit. And one of the best things about these is, I know they haven’t been sprayed with anything or fertilized with anything accept the occasional gift from a passing cow. These are as pure as they can be. Yum!!

I will let you see how they all turn out. It will round out our pantry with peaches and pears going into winter and that is another very satisfying feeling. This is another activity that will be completed while teaching at school, dealing with the fall garden, milking, blogging and being a wife. It is part of what increases the peace and contentment I talked about a few days ago. Keep doing whatever you need to do to increase your preparedness, both for you and your family. It will bring untold blessings.

Until next time – Fern
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