Community Pears

I wrote last year that one of our friends has a neighbor with a pear tree. The pears were just allowed to rot on the ground and only a few were eaten. With their permission last year we went and harvested many of them. It was a huge effort and we could not begin to use all of the pears available. This year we are sharing with friends. Last night, we went and picked the first round. Nine people (instead of just the 3 of us last year) picked the first round of pears in about 45 minutes (instead of a whole afternoon). We also had a great time. The old saying "Many hands make light work."  is so true. We put them in the basement to further ripen because they were falling off the tree before they were ripe. I am guessing because of the drought. We will go back in a week or two to finish picking them. When they are ripe, we will have a pear canning party. If you have extra produce, make sure to share with others but don't be afraid to ask for help or have them pick what they want. It is sad to let food go to waste.