Several years ago we planted three new fruit trees- a Cherry, a hardy Peach, and a Pear tree. We haven’t yet gotten around to adding to the orchard (which is what I’d like it to be), but the varieties are supposed to be self-pollinating, so the promise of fruit is still present.

For the most part, that promise has been largely unmet. I think we’ve had fruit on each tree once, and then only in small volumes. I look at them periodically, and this year the Peach tree seems to be struggling - it’s growing leaves, but not everywhere, looking more like the tree equivalent of a man with a severely receding hairline.

But a couple of days ago when I checked the Pear tree, this is what I found

Flowers?

Those white spots are flowers, of course. I moved in to look closer:

Flowers - future pears?

Not only are the leaves healthy and happy, hopefully reflecting a healthy and happy tree, but there are multiple flowers. Each flower, I believe, is a potential pear, which would suggest the chance for an actual pear harvest this year.

It’s obvious to me that we’d do better if we had more trees, both in terms of fertilization for fruit, and in general for orchard goals. I’d love to be able to work out to the point where we get enough fruit in to make (hard) cider and perry in small batches.

We are quite a ways out from that at the moment, but those flowers at least give me hope!