very complete response, thank you. Yes, I am aware they need to be
picked green, but just how green as you say will have to be determined
by trial and error. My tomatoes are definitely sweeter when I give
them wood ash (I suppose they qualify as fruits). Definitely I will
thin next year. I don't think we can eat more than 150 lbs of pears,
and give away more than 100. I still have jam I made in 1997 with the
year's crop, no one ate it apparently. Cooked and eaten as dessert,
with a little lemon and ginger, they are special, though. Very
different from apples, a lot firmer and drier, quite sweet, and the
spices provide most of the flavor.

Steve wrote in message .net...
1. Thinning will probably improve the flavor. I don't have a lot of
experience with pears. The only pear I have, that produces fruit, (so
far) is one I grafted about 5 feet high on a mountain ash tree. The
original tree (on its own trunk) winter killed before it got big enough
to flower.
I grow plums and I have noticed a huge difference in sweetness if I thin
properly. They can be quite tasteless if too much fruit sets and I don't
thin them.
2. I have heard of some fruit ripening sweeter if the pH of the soil is
brought up to neutral. I'm not sure how pears respond. I'll be watching
to see if others reply to this one. Some pear varieties are just sweeter
than others. If yours are naturally not real sweet, there may be nothing
you can do.
3. You may have picked them too early. Don't worry about them freezing
just because there is frost. They can take temperatures into the low 20s
without damage. I still have half the crop on my tree.
Most pears should be picked a little green for best quality (as, I
assume, you know). Some dare to get completely ripe on the tree but many
varieties get gritty and may not keep as long if you let them hang too
long. Next year, pick some on different dates to find out what works best.

I keep in touch with a woman I know in Grand Rapids, MI. She recently
mentioned that her cold summer caused her pears to be of such poor
quality that they were barely worth picking. Yours may just be better
next year no matter what you do. :-)

Steve in the Adirondacks of northern NY