Actually, I've seen that before on my Bartlett -- in the end, those damaged spots become sort of hard, brown cork calloused areas. Most of the pear will be fine, but not too pleasant to bite into, so just cut them out when you eat it. If the entire skin becomes calloused and russetted, you may need to peel before eating.

We have a d'Anjou cross, and the pears will store at cool room temperature for quite a long time. With the fruits that have issues, you can make "dessert pears" by barely covering cut chunks with a light syrup, bring to simmer, then freeze. These are great with a bit of whipped cream. Look for a subtle change in the color of the pears, away from green and toward yellow, and harvest away. I also look for fruits starting to fall, another sign to harvest. Also you can cut into the pears and see if the seeds have started darkening. Good luck -- I love working with pears.

Dip in ascorbic acid (can be crushed vitamin C tablets...about 6-8 per gallon of water). BWB can in plain water. "Season" with cinnamon, allspice, clove, red hot candies, etc. if any of those appeal to you. Dry them for tasty snacks. Brush with a little diluted honey if desired. These need to be dipped to prevent darkening too. HereÂs a site to check out. Deanna Here is a link that might be useful: NCHFP site

this was in southern iowa! Just wondering what freeze damage looks like. The flowers looked alright until the pedals fell. Then all the little pears turned black. Exactly 3 pears survived on the tree. Last year I got 2 bushel.