Last year I found a 3-gallon Spalding pear tree somewhere. Probably at a plant show. Since I had never seen the variety before, I brought it home and planted it.
It was late in the spring and the weather was hot when we planted. Not good timing, and I had to run the hose on it repeatedly because it kept wilting. Yet it lived through that first year.
This spring, to our surprise, it bloomed. It was only about 6′ tall, and pears usually take their time before they bloom. Not this guy!
I figured it wouldn’t set fruit, but it did!
It started with about a half-dozen pears, but thinned itself down to three.
Today as I was getting in the car with Rachel to head to the gym, I thought, “I’d better go check on that pear… those fruit were almost ripe a couple of days ago!”
I did, and one of the fruits had an overripe spot on it so I picked all three.
Then I took the one with the soft spot, chased the ants away, cut off the bad part and sliced it up to share with the little kids playing on the geodesic climbing dome by the pear.
The fruit is exquisite. Tender skin, honey-sweet, fine texture and with a complex pear flavor. Absolutely delicious.
When I looked up the variety before, I saw it was fireblight resistant. According to the USDA Germplasm network, the variety dates from 1957:
Cultivar. “Spalding”. Pedigree – Unknown, although one parent is probably cv ‘Pineapple’. Spalding (PI 617548).-Originated in Spalding County, California, by JW. Daniell, R.P. Lane, W.A. Chandler, and Gerard Krewer, University of Georgia, Experiment. Introduced in 1982. Probably Pineapple x unknown. Selected in 1957. Fruit: resembles thatof Magness; large; round-pyriform; flesh creamy-white, fine texture, not buttery, juicy with grit cells only around the core; flavor good, subacid, light aroma; skin yellow, lightly russet with brown dots, no blush, smooth. Tree: size similar to thatof Magness; flowers self-fertile; productive; resistant to fire blight. – Brooks and Olmo Register of Fruit and Nut Varieties.
Yesterday we processed a bunch of Keiffer pears into pear salsa, canning 13 pints of the good stuff. Keiffer’s flavor doesn’t hold a candle to this one, though it’s good for cooking/processing.
The University of Georgia note on Spalding pears simply reads:
High quality fruit that ripens early. Subject to blight.
The “subject to blight” note appears to be incorrect, based on more info I’ve uncovered which I’ll post tomorrow.
Down in Florida, Ask the Green Genie calls it a “hidden gem” and has this to say about Spalding pears:
Spalding is an utterly delicious, soft, eating pear with a complex mellow flavor typical of European pears, yet it has a crunchy, juicy sweetness like an Asian pear.
An established, mature, healthy tree produces loads of medium-sized, round, light green fruit in early September. Â
The fruit holds it’s texture well and is excellent for fresh eating or even for making preserves & jams. Â A typical 15 gal specimen will bear fruit the first season in the ground.
At 30ft tall, the Spalding is a medium sized tree in the landscape but it can be heavily pruned to 8-18ft in cultivation. But since pears are generally a lot larger tree than a peach, plum or nectarine, it’s a good idea to leave 20-25ft between trees. It’s white flowers are about 1″ in diameter, smothering the tree in the spring, and filling your yard with perfume & honey bees.
Spalding, or Spaulding as it is sometimes spelled, is amazingly fire blight resistant, too.Â
Our tree doesn’t have any signs of fireblight, though it has been a problem with some other varieties in the food forest.
It’s only a little more than 7′ tall, yet bore fruit.
I have another pear of unknown variety that has been in the ground for over three years. It’s about 16′ tall and hasn’t even bloomed yet!
The Spalding pear is definitely worth propagating. We’ll have to graft some in the spring so we can carry them in the nursery. This one tree we found last spring was the first time I ever saw one for sale, and it’s truly a delicious pear.
It’s a lot of fun experimenting with fruit trees. Sometimes the best way to discover what works and what tastes good is to just plant a bunch of stuff and see what happens.
Impulse buy fruit trees. Just do it.