Poir-fect Pear: Williams' Bon Chrétien aka Bartlett

The Williams' pear is more commonly known in the states as the Bartlett, and is the most readily available of the varieties I've posted so far. Here in Michigan, the staples tend to be Bartlett, Bosc and D'Anjou pears, as far as commercial varieties go.

 

Unfortunately I am not a huge fan of the Williams' pear. When ripe, its flavor edges toward simple, with powerful citrus notes that really dominate the senses. It certainly doesn't hold the subtleties that the other varieties I've written about do. It's still a very old pear, which makes it worth writing about (at least on the blog), and is thought to have originated in the late 1760's in Aldermaston, England.

Poir-fect Pear: Forelle and Abate Fetel

Did you know Forelle means Trout in German? I'm learning all sorts of fun pear-y facts this week.

 The Abate Fetel is, from what I can tell, a late 19th century pear developed by a French monk (Abate = Abbot). The thing is, from preliminary internet research, I've found all sorts of conflicting information about its development! The only formally published information about it that I could find was that it was in a book from 1886, claiming it was a new cultivar available from France. I have found orchard and nursery sites claim it to be developed in 1866, and other sites that say it was bred by monks in the 16th century. How frustrating! I'm beginning to wonder if the tree itself was developed by monks way-back-when, but it wasn't released as scions for commercial production until 1866... It certainly didn't make it over to the states until the 1880's though. It's now one of the top pears in Italy, which is additionally frustrating because when I use the internet to search for information all I get are Italian websites talking about modern fruit production and export. Boo.

Ah, the woes of researching antiquated fruit varieties... the fruits themselves are hard to find, but real, fact-based documentation of them is even worse! More often than not I find myself reading accounts from folks' great-great-great grandfathers who ran orchards and whatnot.

Poir-fect Pear: Packham's Triumph

My mother just told me she thought my photograph was Poi-fect. I think she meant it to be like a Three Stooges thing... but to me (and my weary, pear-researching brain) it came off as a hilarious play on words, using the French word for pear - Poire. I'm not sure if this is an indication of my over-zealous nature, or my lame sense of humor...

Anyway, I began playing with photographing some of the few antique varieties that I have access to in this off season.

The first that I managed to find was the Packham's Triumph pear, a cultivar introduced in 1896 in New South Wales, Australia. I had to run back to the store to grab a couple more last night because the first ones that I had so very carefully picked from the shelf for their stems and leaves had been ravaged by a menacing store employee who, in her OCD rampage, shaved their remaining twigs from their tops as she bagged them. I was livid, in a sort of keep-it-to-yourself-you-don't-want-everybody-to-know-you're-actually-crazy sort of way...

When I went to pick up the new pears, I blurted my story to the guy ringing me up (who was actually in training, the poor chap) and when he and his supervisor made weak and very polite attempts to "connect" and seem interested, I heard myself begin to spout off the history of the Packham's pear to them and instantly knew I'd begun to edge toward crazy-pear-lady-status. I stopped, almost mid sentence, to spare them the bulk of my mania. My brother, who had been standing on, said later that he was proud of me for stopping myself... and something to the effect that he was sure I was going to be that guy's "First day at work, is everybody this crazy?" story.

When does a project go from "project" to "obsession"? Hmm... food for thought.

Having actually started accumulating fruit and taking photographs as got me so excited for this summer; you have no idea.

New Project: Old Fruit

Alright I've been sitting on this post for a while...

I've decided to begin research for a book. I'm not sure if I'll ever get it published, or if I'll self publish it, or if I'll just sit at home and clutch it and smile and rock back and forth while humming.

 Anyway, if you've been following the blog you know that I love food and and I love history. There are spectacular books on heirloom vegetables out there, and on growing fruit, but for years I've been looking for a really nice book on heritage/heirloom fruits and there just isn't much out there. Trust me, I've found all of the pretty good ones, but I still haven't managed to find a spectacular book that encompasses all that I'm looking for.

It's kind of like dating. Sure, you can date a guy who is cute, or a guy who is smart, or a guy who is funny, or a guy who has amazing taste in cheesy 80's fantasy movies... but gosh darnit, I want it all in one package! (I really lucked out, in that regard.)

So, a few months ago it just kind of clicked in my brain. As with all things in my life, if it doesn't exist and I want it to, I'll gosh-darned-do-it-myself!

So over the next few years I'll be gathering information, traveling and tasting, documenting and photographing, and I'm sure someone else will write and publish that special book that I'm looking for, right before I find myself feeling "finished" but that's okay.

I'm doing this for the journey, and primarily for myself. Of course, I want to share everything I learn and do for this book with you eventually, too, but this is mostly for me :)

So. Here is my quest for you, dear readers (if you're even there... You are there, aren't you?)

Share with me your favorite pre-1939 fruits, and let me know when you spot heritage or heirloom fruits for sale. I'm going to be doing some traveling specifically for this project, so if you know of a place that grows fruits from the past, let me know! If you spot that perfect Doyenne Gris pear at your local market, shoot me a facebook message! I'm particularly interested in stone fruits and berries since they seem to be harder to find old varieties of.

I really need to know the cultivars and varieties when possible. A greengage plum could be anything from a modern cross to a 16th century original Reine Claude, so variety names are important to me. :)

You can follow the farm facebook page here. I'm really hoping to use that page to collect some heirloom sightings from readers, friends and families. If you're not sure if it's an heirloom, post it anyway and I'll do some research on it!

NDiN: Currant Obsessions

I just posted over at Not Dabbling in Normal today about my recent experience in rooting currant cuttings. Head over there to check it out!

Getting into full Spring Swing

I've posted over at Not Dabbling in Normal, this morning. Head on over there and check out our latest addition to our farm! Don't worry, once they're able to come out from under the heat lamp for longer periods of time I will have loads of photos to post!

Meet Tanglewood's Fuzzy Little Visitor, Jack!

Alright, I'm gonna give this regular-blogging thing another shot. I'm just so busy, anymore!

We welcomed a fuzzy little temporary addition to our home, two weeks ago. This is Jack! (As in Jack-in-the-box... lol) He is an Icelandic foster lamb from our friends over at Queso Cabeza Farm in Olivet, Michigan.

Lemme tell you, those first few nights of bottle feeding every three hours was really somethin special. I was near losing my mind at one point, but now that he's a little older and eating cold milk from his bucket feeder, life is a lot easier to deal with for everybody.

Jack and our German shepherd, Connor, are the best of friends. They LOVE each other, and they like to chase each other around the yard, hoping and leaping. It's seriously adorable. I can't even handle it.

I'll be posting more updates on Jack in the next few weeks, and I'll have a few little splishy-splashy peepers arriving this coming Wednesday to rebuild our Khaki Campbell flock, so I'm sure you'll be seeing plenty of them as well!

Sick of Winter? Get Planning!

Are you as sick of winter as I am? I'm ready to burst!

So I've begun to plan garden projects for the year. In the past, I have had a habit of waiting until it warms up to get started on gardening, but this year I am hard at work planning and starting projects that I can do before the thaw!

So far, the things I've been working on include:

• small deck to set potted plants
• adding real windows to the framed plastic greenhouse I built last year
• adding a second tier of wood to my shallow raised beds
• plastic barrel planters for large plants like trees/brambles
• new strawberry beds out back for experimental rare strawberry varieties
• kitchen counter refinishing
• kitchen cupboard rebuild

Are you working on anything homesteading-related before the warm weather arrives, or are you waiting for May flowers to grace us with their presence?

Tanglewood Equine Holiday Giveaway!

Alright folks, this one is open to my horseback riding clients only, so I apologize in advance for this.

If you have ever taken lessons/training with me, or if you are a current boarder at Constantine Farms, you are eligible to enter my Tanglewood Equine Holiday Giveaway!

As you may or may not be aware, I am running a holiday promo for my lesson program to try to generate new interest and to expand my clientele. Here's the flyer:

Isn't it just adorable?? 

Anyway, from now until Thursday, December 13th, you have three opportunities to enter a drawing to win one free hour-long lesson, or two hours of training for your horse. The various ways to enter are simple:

1. Share this image on Facebook! Then return to this blogpost and comment below, letting me know that you shared it on facebook. (You can share this flyer by pasting the following link into your status bar: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dRJIVaJI9Vs/ULzGkYnK-rI/AAAAAAAABa0/idOFsBKAO8M/s1600/holidaylessons.jpg or you can find it on my facebook page and share it from there.)
   
    
2. Share this image on Twitter! Then return to this blogpost and comment below, giving me your twitter handle and letting me know that you shared it on twitter. (You can share this flyer on twitter by posting the following URL: http://tinyurl.com/cowspx4)
   
    
3. Print the following flyer image and share it in a physical location, like at work, at the gym, at the local hotdog stand... and return to this blogpost and comment below, giving me the details of your flyer-sharing exploits!

(Click on the image above to download the flyer for printing.)

How un-classy is it to do a promo for your promo? Hahaha. Oh well. Make sure you leave me a separate comment for each time you share the flyer. I will be choosing a winner by random-number-generator on Thursday, December 13th at 8PM.

Questions? Concerns? No problemo! Email me at emilymargaretjenkins@gmail.com or find me on facebook!

Holday Challenge: A Parsimonious Christmas

This Christmas, I have decided to see just how frugal I can possibly be. This is mostly a challenge for challenge's sake, but because it seems like it's going to save me quite a bit of money I can't completely discount that as incentive. This year, my goal is to make all of my gifts for friends and family. Cool, huh?

Alright, that's not all of it. My goal is to see if I can keep from spending over $100 total on all of my supplies for making gifts this year. Parsimonious Penny-Pinching! This will be the perfect way to save money, but it'll also encourage me to use what I have around the house: stashed fabric and fiber, half finished projects, things like that.

So... If you're a friend or family member following my blog, you may want to read sparingly over the next several weeks. You're welcome to follow me in my adventures in frugal holiday spending, but just know that I'll be posting updates and tutorials here. Of course, I have several things planned, so you could always follow along and try to figure out what it is I'm planning for you!

If you're not a friend or family member, follow along! Join me, even! If you do join me in my ridiculous challenge, or if you run a similar challenge, let me know and I'll be happy to share information on your challenge here as I blog. 

Are you planning any fantastic challenges for the holidays this year?