Our pears
Our pears are juicy, melting, spicy-sweet and aromatic, with a slight hint of nutmeg – a true happiness!
Michael Häger , one of our pear producers:
“Happiness to me is watching everything grow and thrive all year long, and then when it all hangs full and beautiful at harvest time.”
Obstbau Häger is a modern family business and is in its fourth generation of farming. For more than 55 years, they have been all about growing fruit, always putting quality and freshness first. On their farmland, they work hand in hand with nature to grow high-quality fruit in a healthy way.
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Their fields are mainly located around the “Fritzdorfer Mühle”, about 240m above sea level. Here their fruit grows in the so-called “integrated cultivation”. The goal of integrated cultivation is to produce healthy fruit while protecting nature.
Around the village of Fritzdorf (municipality of Wachtberg/North Rhine-Westphalia) and into the municipality of Grafschaft (Rhineland-Palatinate), there are very deep, humus-rich loamy soils with soil points of up to over 90, i.e. ideal soils for growing all types of fruit. Very favorable for the quality of our fruits are the Mediterranean weather conditions. Few frosts, many warm sunny days and sufficient water favor the growth and ripening of the fruit varieties we grow.
Cultivation methods
Young pear trees bear for the first time at the age of 2-3 years. They form a permanent crop and live for 15 to 20 years. Pollination is carried out by bumblebees and bees and with the help of pollinator trees, which are planted interspersed in the plantations. Pear trees prefer soils rich in nutrients and humus and are provided with drip irrigation during prolonged drought.
Harvest
The pear season lasts from the end of August to the beginning of November and can be extended into the spring using special storage techniques.
Picking
At harvest, the fruits are picked by hand and carefully placed in large crates to avoid bruising. These would later lead to the spoilage of the fruit.
Maturity levels
Pears ripen at the same time and are therefore harvested once and completely.
Our varieties
Abate | Alexander Lucas | Conference | Dr. Guyot | Santa Maria | Williams
Frutania pear fruit
Frutania pears come mainly from the Rhineland and the Old Country and are known for their special taste. But we also offer early varieties from France and later ones from Belgium, Holland and Italy.
Frutania pears are available from: July – April
Consumer tips
Purchasing
The pear should have a smooth, undamaged skin when purchased. However, the so-called “russeting” around the base of the stem is not a problem.
Storage
If you have bought ripe pears, you should wait no longer than 1 to 2 days before snacking on them and possibly store the fruit in the refrigerator. You can let unripe pears ripen at room temperature.
Preparation
Pears taste fresh, as compote, baked as cake, in fruit salads, as Bircher muesli, pear Helene and with Gorgonzola, as juice, smoothie or noble pear brandy.
The pear
Small encyclopedia
Even babies like pears – no wonder, because the popular fruit is mild, sweet and contains very little fruit acid.
Pears are divided into summer, autumn and winter pears with subgroups of dessert pears, cooking pears and cider pears. About 2,500 varieties are known worldwide, and several hundred in Germany. However, the most commonly grown are the Alexander Lucas, the Conference, the Williams Christ and the Clapps Liebling, which is more common in the north.
