New varities on a new farm

Hi
I am a new farmer and new to the forum.
We are planting the following varities this year.

Asian Pears 2018
Hayatama
Meigetsu
Olympic

Any advise, questions or suggestions will help.

Tom MacIntosh
Orchard Manager Paradise Fields
Hamilton Ontario zone 6a

We have been growing Asian pears for 8 years. Our favorite varieties are Hosui, Shinseiki and Nijeseki. We have not tried the first two you mention, but Olympic I believe are the same as Korean Giant. To my mind they are too large, some weigh a pound. But the flavor is fine.

Here in Iowa they are easier to grow than apples, peaches or European pears. We have had fireblight in the orchard but it has not affected the Asian pears. They are not sensitive to neem oil like most European pears. The only downside is the need to thin. We pluck off about 90 percent of the fruitlets. You leave the fruit from the king blossom and remove the surrounding ones (usually four or five) others surrounding it, and them you may have another cluster 3 inches away and they all have to go.

Turkey Creek Orchard
Solon, Iowa (zone 5A)

Sorry, hit send too soon. The only other potential downside is the market. We sell fruit shares through csas. The Asian pears are like the odd vegetables that people need to be educated about. But a lot of folks find they love them.

They are picked ripe and don't need chilling before counter ripening, another advantage over European pears. And they keep well for weeks when refrigerated. . Just don't pick them too soon or they will not be sweet enough and customers will be disappointed. We use the lift test, if they come off when lifted to the horizontal they are ripe. After a while you get so you can identify the subtle change in coloring that indicates ripeness. Unfortunately, it is different for each variety.


The limbs will need spreading, but be careful as they can break rather easily.

Turkey Creek Orchard
Solon, Iowa (zone 5A)