Asian pears are ready to eat when purchased; European pears ripen after harvest. Check European pears for color changes, sweet aroma and soft flesh near the stem to spot ripeness. To speed ripening, ...

Sweet, succulent and refreshing—a ripe pear is a thing of beauty. Unripe pears, on the other hand, are not nearly as rewarding. Fortunately, our guide on how to ripen pears will spare you the ...

As ubiquitous as they are come fall, pears remain a bit of an enigma. Why are they so hard when you buy them? Why do they seemingly take forever to ripen? Why do they finally ripen exactly when you ...

Question: Our new house has a few apple and pear trees. They are older trees, but they don't have a lot of fruit. How do we tell when they are ripe? Answer: The first thing to know about apple trees ...

Nothing beats the flavor of home grown fruit picked right off the tree in your own yard. For great flavor, however, it's important to harvest fruit at the right time. Some fruit must ripen on the tree ...

Gardening season is in full swing and there are lots of questions out there. Get answers from Ask an Expert, an online question-and-answer tool from Oregon State University’s Extension Service. OSU ...

Fruit trees are often looked upon as the most difficult edible plants to grow — maybe with the exception of the tomato, depending on the year. Once a suitable variety is selected and planted, there’s ...

Not all pears are created equal—so we asked a seventh-generation fruit farmer for guidance. Asian pears are ready to eat when purchased; European pears ripen after harvest. Check European pears for ...