Lind, if you want a low, wide tree for easy picking then I agree open center is the best. I use open center on all my more widely spaced trees, whatever kind of tree it is. The way to conceive of the open center is its like a bowl of leaves, all the leaves are concentrated in a bowl-like shape and so all the leaves get good sun since there are not many leaves above or below the "bowl". Of course this is just an idealization, but its the root of getting good sun on your open center tree -- imagine the bowl, and remove too-high and too-low branches. The bowl ends up being several feet thick, and it will very from this ideal in many cases due to the way the scaffolds are going. My latest favorite link is the one below, it shows a peach pruned to open center. Its more like a plate than a bowl, thats even better but is harder to pull off. In terms of details of how to prune, that is a very complex topic. I would spend several hours reading every on-line description from the various states and watching youtube videos until you start to get a sense of things a bit better. Pictures that show actual trees evolving over the years are the most helpful, but those are pretty hard to come by. Pruning was by far the hardest thing for me to learn, grafting is much easier. Scott Here is a link that might be useful: NCSU peach pruning

Here's an abstract from a technical paper: - - - - STORAGE CHARACTERISTICS OF SPARTLETT PEAR Author: M. Meheriuk Abstract: Size in Spartlett pear was considerably larger than in Bartlett pear (380 g vs 180 g). Late harvested Spartlett pears were lighter in skin color, had less titratable acidity and were lower in firmness than earlier harvested fruit at harvest and during storage. Senescent scald was always present in Spartlett pears stored in air for 180 days but could appear as early as 120 days of air storage. Quality parameters in 2% O2 + 2% CO2 or 3% O2 + 5% CO2 were comparable but superior to those in air storage. Controlled-atmosphere storage prevented senescent scald and reduced the incidence and severity of core breakdown. The cultivar has a shelf-life of 7-10 days and can be stored under controlled atmosphere in excess of 180 days - - - - Another site said hardy but susceptible to fireblight. Should be able to locate more info with a brief search Here is a link that might be useful: abstract

Melly Thanks for the recipe. I have all but the juniper berries. I'll try without them and let you know what I think of it.

Daniel, I see someone answered you already, but I knew immediately when you said an OK pear was discovered in a field. I bought one from Henry Fields around 1990 and planted it at our first home in NC. Sad for me, but I was transferred by the military in 1992 and while oversees, my husband also received orders and had to sell our home. I never saw the tree again. I think about it still today and wonder if it survived the years and the string of owners on our old home. Two summers ago, I looked it up since Henry Fields no longer carries them and ordered one from Hidden Springs Nursery. So, my quest has been a lot like yours except that I have actually tasted one. In 1992, before I was transferred, the tree bore a single pear sooner than it was supposed to bear. It was such a beauty and I would check it every day when I came home from work, dreaming of when it would be ripe and ready to eat. It swelled to a very large pear, and as I began to think of picking it soon, I came home one day and when I checked, a bird had drilled a mouth-sized hole into the pear. I was heart-broken. However, since the rest of the pear was undamaged, I took it inside, cut off the damaged part and washed it thoroughly. It was the best tasting pear I have ever eaten with the possible exception of the Korean pears that I have since eaten. It is the only North American pear I have tasted that comes near to the quality of the Korean Pear (in my humble opinion). I now have one Asian Pear at my current home and one Turnbull Pear. Neither are bearing yet. My Turnbull Pear was in good shape, but small when it arrived from Hidden Springs Nursery (who did ship in mid-year, unlike some nurseries). In the last two years it has grown well and is now about 6 ft. tall. I look forward to that first wonderful pear experience. It has been over 20 years since I tasted one of these pears.