Buyali: In the absence of a photo, you could give us a better description of just how high you are placing the grafts on the rootstocks. If they are close to the ground, your problem could as well be rabbits as deer. If you suspect animals of some type, the rootstock may have to be protected with a circle of wire. You describe the damage as on the "tip of the emerging leaf", which would tend to suggest insects, but many types of insects eat and move on, and would no longer be on the leaves when you look at them with your magnifier. I don't know what active ingredient is contained in Wilson's Bug Spray (the label should say), but it may not be effective against what you are targeting. Try malathion or permethrin. I don't think I would put grease on my rootstocks. If it is petroleum-based grease, it could damage the tissue. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

try the fruit forum .. as they do things very different than tree peeps .... but i would bet my shiny penny... it will involve spraying ... take your carrot peeler.. and peel them.. and then cook them like apples to make the pear version of apple sauce ... put them in paper bags for a month or so ... in the garage... and they will yellow and soften.. here in MI... dad used to spread them on the picnic table.. and they bombed out of the tree.. and would leave them there thru about mid october.. before they finally ripened .... NOT in sun .... and the only if the squirrels will leave them alone .... think about them being a fruit cellar fruit.. that would store for near half the winter, underground, cool and dark ..... not unlike apples/gourds/etc ... and you will come to understand.. how and why historically ... they were a winter long treat... [whereas you have to 'can' all the rot-able stuff... like tomato.. and all the fruit that has to be jellified.. to use all winter] do not be confused.. as i was for a decade or so.. lol .. that you pick and eat these.. off the tree .. unless you have some very strong teeth ... no one said.. organic home grown fruit is pretty.. it usually is not ... ken ps: why do we can things.. in glass... whats that all about.. lol ...

That torte looks wonderful. Most of what I bake tastes good, not all of it is pretty though ;0) I like canned pears. I do not like to can pears. Something about the prep work, pear juice everywhere, or at least that's what it felt like in my smaller kitchen. I haven't gone through the steps to can any since we moved and I have more space to work, might not be as traumatic.

What Annie and GGal said...they posted about the same time. Looks like you had an environmental issue. I get fruit 2 out of 5 years depending on weather and variety. Pears are climacteric. About 95% depending on variety....always an exception. They ripen off the tree like bananas. Berries are non-climacteric. Once picked they will not continue to ripen, just start the downhill rotting process. Pick ripe and freeze, eat or process. If they fall or are picked before a certain point, (weather issues). they are compost like you have found out. A shame but I deal with it sadly every year. Tomatoes are climacteric as well and will continue to ripen picked early if at the color break stage. In all the heat, wet soggy weather, my tomatoes are about done! Most seasons I am just enjoying now and through September. Last year I was checking Brix on my pears. They were a week from harvest, just about ready when a bear, better at knowing the perfect time, wiped us out. He broke off two main branches climbing...I caught him sitting in my pear tree. He left me just a few out of his reach. A teen bear. He was young and brave but ran off when he saw us. ( I should have harvested that week earlier) A refractometer is a good tool to have to check/follow brix for fruit trees. Some years it just does not line up. And why we find amazing grocery fruit one year, then carp the next. Farms are dependent on climate. They still harvest and sell needing the income. Too much rain produces watery cantaloupe, etc. Then randomly they are amazing....same exterior skin. So...I have a dozen varieties of fruit trees, and grapes, and grow all melons and winter squashes and so much that I am not often disappointed knowing every year will give an abundance of at least a few things. This year is all about the peppers! Never in 25years have I had such a pepper harvest.