F pears were a person, you’d have nothing to do with them. Nurture a pear tree to a decent harvest and you enjoy none of the instant pleasure of apples, as most varieties are picked firm to develop in storage—after which the fruit will ripen from not-quite-there to squish when you pop to the shops for 10 minutes. Here in rainy south-west England, pear trees grow well enough, but, no matter how well I care for them, they look at me as the dog does after a fun walk on the beach with his favourite
