Most Our heirloom pears have been grafted to OHxF 333 (Old Home x Farmingdale) pear rootstock. European and Asian pears that are grafted on this rootstock are dwarfed to about 2/3 the size of standard, or about 12-15 ft. tall. This rootstock is widely adapted to all soils and climates and is disease resistant, and induces early production with full size fruit. Pears do best when multiple varieties are planted near one another for cross pollenization. They are the most resistant to saturated soils of all fruits and nuts.
We have also grafted onto FULL SIZED ROOTSTOCK either Pyrus communis Seedlings or OHxF97.
The Following is a list of the best heirloom Pears and Quince that we have offered:
Autumn Bartlett
This heirloom Bartlett type dates from the 1890s. The fruit is medium to large. The flesh is creamy-white with a smooth, buttery texture -complex and juicy – similar in flavor to Bartlett, but larger. The tree owner says,”This pear tastes better than any Bartlett I ever ate.” Best eaten out of hand, but very good for drying, canning, juice or perry. Harvests in September or October, about 6 weeks later than Bartlett, and holds its sweet flavor.
The cared for grandmother tree is a healthy 100+ year specimen growing at 2800’ in a mixed orchard in Camptonville, Yuba County, a vibrant mining town of the mid 1800s, still populated with many Gillet trees. Camptonville was the home of Lester Pelton, who in 1870 invented the Pelton wheel. Lester changed the course of human evolution by inventing the device for making hydroelectric power. Camptonville is a fascinating old mining camp, with many Gillet trees. We will be introducing more from this area in coming years.
Ayer’s Pear (no picture)
This medium size pear has firm, buttery sweet flesh. It’s wrapped in thin yellow skin that is splattered with cute russet dots. A good dessert pear that ripens in late September. Thrives at 5000′ elevation, and a delicious addition to any home orchard. Apparently self fertile, likely to set larger crops with another variety planted nearby.
Found by the Sierra Valley, CA extension of the FGI, the mother tree grows at almost 5000′ just east of the Sierra Nevada surrounded by mountains 6000′ to 8000′. Sierra Valley was formerly a lake basin now filled up with sediment, with a grassland and sagebrush ecosystem. Before the gold rush, this sacred place was inhabited by both the Maidu and Washoe tribes. Washoe once called this place “medicine root place’ and evidence of their ovens have been found and traced back 500-1000 years.
Baby Bartlett
This was an early discovery. Beautiful, smooth green to yellow skin with red blush on sun side. Small, classic pear shape, with long stems. Weighs 4-6 ounces. 16.5° Brix. Melting, tangy/sweet, not grainy with moderately sweet skin. A perfect pear for a child or a small snack. Great out of hand and in juice. Not trialed for other uses yet. Ripens early October at 3,250’. Keeps 2 months, at least. This vigorous, large tree is growing and regularly producing with no human care, producing very clean fruit, with low codling moth damage, no weather damage, and no damage from fire blight or pear decline.
The 100+ year mother tree grows in the town of Humbug, in Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park on the San Juan Ridge of Nevada County at 3,250’ elevation. Humbug is the site of one of the original and largest hydraulic gold mines, and a long-term, thriving large mining town, abundant with wonderful heirloom fruits and nuts that we will be introducing over the next few years.
Beurré Bosc
A medium to large scrumptious brown russeted pear. Very buttery juicy, flavorful, musky, sugary. The tree seems to bear alternately very large crops. Ripens around September at 2500′. These elegant pears are good for eating fresh, baking, poaching and broiling. They possibly originate in France or Belgium just around 1800 or so.
Found in North San Juan, Ca on an old homestead with quite a few varieties of old heirloom fruit. North San Juan still has remnants of old hydraulic mining diggings that are still clear reminders today that we are capable of great destruction for greed. The natural land has still not healed after over 100 years.
Beurré Clairgeau
Originated in Nantes, France by Pierre Clairgeau in 1848 and introduced by Gillet to the Gold Country in 1876. In Gillet’s 1880 description, he said, “Fruit large, from 12 -18 ounces, pyriform, beautifully shaped, splendid flavor, buttery; tree very vigorous and one of the most productive of the Pear family; regular bearer. November to December ripening. The size, very early bearing, productiveness and beauty of the fruit, together with its ripening in early winter or late in the fall, render this variety one of our most valuable.” This variety was chosen by the Slow Food Ark of Taste in 2014 to be honored and saved for posterity. Makes a good canning pear, with excellent fresh and dried uses. Storage Pear. When the pear breaks off easily from the tree when it is lifted up. Store in a box in a cool area suffocated in cloth or paper. This allows for all the natural gas such as ethylene to ripen the pear, which reduces the astringency in the skin.
The grandmother tree is located at the original Gillet property, Barren Hill Nursery, on Aristocracy Hill in Nevada City at 2500′. This must have been a Felix favorite, as it is planted directly off his front porch – still growing strong, and often bearing large crops, without any nearby pollenizer pear. We consider it the prime variety still growing on his property.
Beurré Gris
A delicious medium to large pear with buttery smooth flesh that melts in the mouth. This juicy pear embodies a musky aroma with subtle floral flavors. A tasty dessert pear with a complementing slight astringency in the skin. In French the name means buttery gray pear. The grandmother trees are very productive, with minimal water. Tree grows to 15’ tall and about 10’ wide. Ripens in September at 2800’. There are other varieties nearby and likely benefits from planting with other varieties to increase fruit yield.
The grandmother tree is at 2800’ in a mixed Gillet homestead orchard in Camptonville, Yuba County, a vibrant mining town of the mid 1800s, still populated with many Gillet trees. Camptonville was also the home of Lester Pelton, who in 1870 invented the Pelton wheel. Lester changed the course of human evolution by inventing the device for making hydroelectric power. Camptonville is a fascinating old mining camp, with many Gillet trees.
Beurré d’Anjou
The standard of all winter pears originated in the early 19th century near Angers, France. A medium to large egg shaped pear with a bright green skin that doesn’t change color as the pear ripens. The white to off white flesh is firm and dense, creamy white, aromatic, juicy, sweet with a hint of citrus, slightly acidic, with buttery and slightly gritty texture. Great eaten fresh out-of-hand, in salads, and for both baking & poaching. D’Anjou purée is used for Jelly Belly’s Juicy Pear flavor. Ripens late September through October at 4500′. Keeps 3–4 months.
The now completely wild, non irrigated mother tree grows in front of the historic Dance Hall in the town of Forest in Sierra County, CA at 4500′. Forest was a very productive and vibrant gold mining camp founded in 1852. Forest was also called “Forks of Oregon Creek”. The present name of Forest was derived not from the magnificent forest of conifers surrounding it, as is generally supposed, “but from a Mrs. Forest Mooney, the wife of Captain Mooney”. This woman had a knack for writing newspaper articles, and invariably signed her journalistic contributions “Forest City”. Today, Forest is full of antique pears, apples and cherries that we will be introducing over the next several years.
Bergamot de Hertrich
This heirloom German pear dates to 1858. The bergamot shaped fruit is medium in size, roundish to terminate. The skin is grass green seen through ash–gray russet, with some orange blush on the side near the sun. The flesh is yellowish, with a greenish tinge under the skin. Fruit is fine, melting, rich flavor, juicy and aromatic. Delicious. Excellent fresh, dried or for juice. Harvests in September and October. A very good keeper. The mother tree shows good resistance to codling moth and blight.
The feral, as yet unpruned, non irrigated mother tree grows near Rock Creek outside Nevada City, Nevada County @2500’, on a large 1800’s homestead being renovated by a young farmer.
Beurre Goubalt
A fantastically delicious pear! It looks similar to Bartlett, but the taste is different with yummy, melting flesh and hints of citrus. The flesh is coarse and a bit more firm than Bartlett. A new favorite among the FGI team. Ripens mid to late August at 3,000 feet. Keeps up to one month if kept cool. Great fresh eating, cooking and drying. Haven’t tried it yet in cider, but the citrus notes should make for excellent juice. Produces a larger crop when planted with another variety.
The mother tree grows in Dutch Flat, Placer County, CA at 3,100’. Dutch Flat was founded by German immigrants in 1851 and was once one of the richest gold mining locations in California. This beautiful old town, located on the Western Pacific railroad that connected the US in the 1800’s, is absolutely full of heirloom fruits and nuts, many from Gillet’s nursery. We will be introducing other favorites in the coming years. A true goldmine of history is Dutch Flat.
Blush Bartlett
This beautiful pear is part of the extensive Bartlett family. It has the buttery, juicy, melt in your mouth sweetness of all Bartletts and ripens in early September at 2700′ elevation. The skin has a gorgeous, deep orange-pink sun blush. The sweet and perfumed flesh is buttery sweet and slightly grainy. A favorite for fresh eating, canning or drying. Fruit is medium to very large. Appears to be self fruitful, but like all pears, will likely produce bigger crops with another variety growing nearby.
The mother tree grows at 2700’ in a quaint Gold Rush era homestead in Goodyears Bar, CA near the North Fork of the Yuba River. This tree is cared for by our wise, very active friend, octogenarian, Cy Rollins, whose knowledge and storytelling has captivated and inspired us. Not only does Cy tend many heirloom fruit and nut trees, he also collects antique mining and logging equipment. He even set up a public museum so that all can enjoy the history of the local area. Of the 100 or so heirloom trees Cy stewards, we have selected about a dozen of our favorites for your growing enjoyment.
Bonneamour – Bon Cretien (Bartlett family)
This photo shows Adam and his brother Chris picking the Bonneamour. This fruit is part of the world famous Bartlett family, the Bonneamour has very sweet and tender flesh. The fruit is large with a slight blush. Excellent fresh, dried or canned. As are most pears, it is picked green and enjoyed as it ripens to a soft yellow. Tree bears early, heavily and regularly. Tolerates hot summers. Harvest mid-season (August-September in Nevada County). Keeps in cold storage for 4-6 weeks. Self-fruitful; does not require a pollenizer.
This well known variety is propagated from a small orchard near Grass Valley, Nevada County @ 2300’. This is the edge of a once famous pear district at the turn of the 20th Century that shipped pears all over the US. But pear blight and pear decline, two major diseases, wiped out nearly all the pears in the 50’s and 60’s. These wise grandmother trees grow in a natural aquafer and appear to be resistant to both diseases. They have never been sprayed, are not watered or fertilized, except by Nature, yet show remarkable growth and strong disease resistance.
Colfax Russet
This is sort of weird and probably only for collectors. This great tree was most likely planted in the 40’s or later but has survived all these years. Yet, unnamed and unique, this variety, possibly a seedling, is small, buttery, juicy and flavorful, like a russeted Seckle. Sometimes they are mealy. The strong russeting weaves across the thickish skin and contributes to its somewhat grainy texture. Some people believe that the russeted varieties have some of the best flavor, and this seems to be true with this pear. The Colfax Russet also has a unique physical characteristic in that the fruit blends into the stem and the stem blends right into the branch without much physical delineation. The tree grows slowly and is most likely not a heavy producer. For the lover of the unique and unusual.
Illinoistown was renamed Colfax in honor of the 17th US Vice President Schuyler Colfax, Jr. who had visited this bustling town during the construction of the First Continental Railroad around 1865. Colfax was located in the pear belt and was famous for Bartlett pears. Many people here planted orchards and were easily able to load up their produce directly onto the transcontinental railroad. The dreaded fire blight became a real nuisance by 1900 and many of the orchards all over California were progressively wiped out. There are still some strong survivors in these mountains but the fire blight still rips through here regularly.
Comice
Developed in Angers, France and offered to the West by Gillet in the 1880s, it is one of Felix’s most successful introductions. Comice has been called “Top of the Show” and for good reason! It has a short neck, greenish-yellow skin with red blush. Very sweet, aromatic, with a silky, creamy texture, superb flavor and quality. Perhaps the best pears for eating raw. The extreme juiciness earns high accolades for eating fresh, but makes a poor choice for cooking. Excellent for juicing and perry (hard cider made from pears). A favorite in holiday gift boxes, dubbed the “Christmas pear”. Ripe mid September to mid October at 4100′. Grows in zones: 5 – 9, needs 600 chill hours. Self-fruitful in most climates of the West or pollinize with William’s Bon Crétien (Bartlett), Beurre Bosc or Seckel. Some resistance to fireblight, with good frost resistance.
The grandmother tree grows on private property in North san Juan, Nevada County CA. It still produces delicious fruit almost every year. It grows with a few other varieties of pear including Bosc, Autumn Bartlet and Winter Nellis.
Directeur Alphand
This was an early discovery that we never put in our catalog. It is a very large, late ripening pear that we discovered in the remote mountains of Pike, California. The tree’s growth has been extremely stunted because of the giant cedar tree underneath which it grows. We have been watching it for years and it always looks like a young sapling. I wonder how many growth rings are packed into its small trunk.
Dorris Seeding
Eaten right from the tree this small/medium, yellow pear is soft, sweet, melty and non astringent. Unlike any other pear on the property and growing outside the fence-line, it is most likely is a seedling. But remember an all time favorite, the Bartlett was originally found as a wild seedling in the forest! As we have just begun propagating this pear, we don’t have much info on it yet. However, we’ll be watching this little star because it is delicious, vigorous and attractive! This fruit has a short shelf life, so it has to be eaten or processed right away. The little tree has produced moderate crops 3 years in a row, without fireblight damage! Ripens in mid September to early October at 2500′.
The grandmother tree is an old roadside seedling growing near an old pear orchard of Bosc, Autumn Bartlett, Comice and Winter Nelis pears. This property in North San Juan, Nevada County also has early apples, hops, grapes, pineapple quince and Myro plums. North San Juan was a roaring mining camp in the 1800s, a relatively short stagecoach ride to Felix Gillet’s nursery in Nevada City. We have discovered numerous, valuable heirlooms in and around N. San Juan and the San Juan ridge, most, apparently, from Gillet’s nursery.
Doyenne Gris
The Doyenne Gris dates to 1750 in Paris and was introduced to the US by Gillet in 1884. Large to medium in size, globe-like fruit. Skin rather thin and wrinkled, yellow–ocher, nearly entirely covered with cinnamon colored russet so that little of the true color is visible. It has a redish-orange blush toward the sun. This pear has an utterly delicious, rich flavor. Flesh is tender, melting, very buttery, fine-grained texture. One of the best dessert pears. In every respect the very excellent pear. Ripens mid-October. Stores well for weeks.
The mother tree is a very healthy 110+ year young specimen growing at 2800’ in a mixed Gillet homestead orchard in Camptonville, Yuba County, a vibrant mining town of the mid 1800’s, still populated with many Gillet trees. Camptonville was also the home of Lester Pelton, who in 1870 invented the Pelton wheel. Lester changed the course of human evolution by inventing the device for making hydroelectric power. Camptonville is a fascinating old mining camp, with many Gillet trees. We will be introducing more from this area in coming years.
Duchesse d’Angoulême
This popular French fruit was developed about 1815, brought to California by Gillet in 1882. One of the largest pear varieties can attain an enormous size. Skin is greenish-yellow netted with russet and numerous russet dots. Flesh is white, buttery, somewhat granular, very juicy and melting with a rich flavor. Excellent fresh, dried and juice. An upright, vigorous, hardy tree that bears young and regularly. Ripens in October, for use in the next 6 weeks. Fireblight resistant. Sets a big crop almost every year, no matter the weather. Partially self fruitful, but will increase crop when planted with: Bergamot d’Esperen, Beurre Clairgeau, and Beurre d’Anjou. Beurre Gris, Louis Bonne, Martin Sec. This variety was chosen by the Slow Food Ark of Taste in 2014 to be honored and saved for posterity.
The 125+ year young mother tree grows in the town of Humbug, in Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park on the San Juan Ridge of Nevada County at 3,250’ elevation. Humbug is the site of one of the original hydraulic mines, and a long-term, large mining town, abundant with wonderful heirloom fruits and nuts that we will be introducing over the next few years.
Fig Seckle
This sweet, unusual pear resembles a fig in shape. The only identity we could find was in an old watercolor from the USDA from the 1800’s that described it as a cross between a Bartlett and a Seckle. The partly russetted skin is blushed with a red-orange that spreads out from the bottom. The flesh melts in your mouth with delicate, subtle, juicy sweetness. This pear is buttery, creamy, juicy and sweet. Good for dessert or perry. The tree is very productive and moderately resistant to fireblight. Produced large crops in the 2014 and 2015 drought years. Ripens in September at 2200′.
The vigorous, healthy mother tree grows in North San Juan on an old homestead in town. North San Juan, at 2200′ on the San Juan Ridge of Nevada County, was one of the most productive and busiest areas of the Northern mines. Once known as the “garden belt” of the Sierra foothills, it was a large agricultural area during the mining days. We continue to find great heirloom relics as we search the old ranches and homesteads of the Ridge.
Forest Asian Pear
This is a medium sized, juicy, crunchy, sweet pear of Asian heritage with green to yellow skin and off white flesh. Like all Asian pears, this variety combines the familiar pear flavor with the crunchiness of an apple. This fruit ripens in late August to mid-September at the 4,500 feet. It stores for about a month. May also be a good candidate as rootstock for other pears, as Asian pears have been historically utilized in this manner to produce slightly dwarfed pear trees. Some resistance to fire blight and very drought tolerant.
The now completely wild, non-irrigated mother tree grows in the town of Forest in Sierra County, CA at 4500′. Forest was a very productive and vibrant gold mining camp founded in 1852. Forest was also called “Forks of Oregon Creek”. The present name of Forest was derived not from the magnificent forest of conifers surrounding it, as is generally supposed, “but from a Mrs. Forest Mooney, the wife of Captain Mooney”. This woman had a knack for writing newspaper articles, and invariably signed her journalistic contributions “Forest City”. Today, Forest is full of antique pears, apples and cherries that we will be introducing over the next several years.
Keiffer (Bear Pear)
Just as it begins to ripen, this very large pear has crisp flesh like an Asian pear, but as it matures to a deep yellow, the flesh becomes melting like a Bartlett — best of both worlds. It begins ripening at the end of September and hangs on into November at 2500′. It seems to be self-fruitful, but likely it will be more productive with another variety planted near it. The mother trees are very vigorous and healthy, producing large harvests, annually. These are the largest, healthiest and heaviest producing pear variety consistently almost every year. It is a true permaculture plant, producing more food per tree than any tree we have seen. Codling moth resistant, fire blight resistant and the healthiest old pear trees we have found! The Kieffer pear was a chance cross between a European and Asian pear on Peter Kieffer’s farm near Philadelphia in 1876.
The grandmother trees grow on two properties, less than 2 miles from Felix Gillet’s former nursery in Nevada City, CA. Nevada City was a bustling place in the late 1800s, known as the Queen of the Northern Mines, with much agriculture to feed the miners. We have found many Felix Gillet trees in this community, likely due to the nearly 100 years of continuous nursery operation. Felix grew many of the trees still thriving in and around Nevada City.
Honey Sweet
Most likely the Honeysweet Pear, released by Purdue University 1976 The medium , buttery, high-quality fruit has all the flavor and sweetness of the old-time Seckle (or Sugar) Pear, but with improved size and fireblight resistance. The tree itself has been very vigorous, healthy and very productive over the years. Fabulous for fresh eating, drying, juicing or for perry. Ripens in late August to September.
Discovered in Lower Grass Valley, near Cedar Ridge, this is an exceptional tree with exceptional fruit!
Humbug #1
This was an early discovery that we never went back to identify, but this is a great pear. Medium size, squat, with short stems, and green to creamy yellow smooth skin. Very tasty, aromatic, not overly sweet, a little gritty, non-bitter skin. Weight .32-.40 12° Brix. Ripens at Humbug in late September. This vigorous tree is growing and regularly producing with no human care, producing very clean fruit, with low codling moth damage and no damage from fire blight or pear decline. Maybe next Autumn where there is fruit, we can rediscover it anew.
The 100+ year mother tree grows in the town of Humbug, in Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park on the San Juan Ridge of Nevada County at 3,250’ elevation. Humbug is the site of one of the original hydraulic mines, and a long-term, large mining town, abundant with wonderful heirloom fruits and nuts that we will be introducing over the next few years.
Sweet Bonne Louise
We have found a couple of these in the North San Juan area. It has a shape similar to Le Curé and the Pound Pear (aka Belle Angevine). We never offered the Sweet, Good Lousie in our catalogs because they are not the best, or rather they were not tasted at the peak of their ripeness. That said, I talked to the caretaker at the NSJ Methodist church where one of these treasures grows near the front of the church – just before the transfer station. He said that he normally doesn’t like pears. However, he likes this one. I think you have to eat them when they are ripe.
Martin Sec
The 100+ year mother tree grows in the town of Humbug, in Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park on the San Juan Ridge of Nevada County at 3,250’ elevation. Humbug is the site of one of the original and largest hydraulic gold mines, and a long-term, thriving large mining town, abundant with wonderful heirloom fruits and nuts that we will be introducing over the next few years.
Potato Pear
This unknown variety looks like a Potato but tastes amazing. Comparable to Winter Nellis but better. Ripens on the tree in October at 2400′. Creamy, Sweet, medium texture, crunchy and delicious. We have never seen this type of pear, and we only have a very few. We believe they are extremely rare.
The mother tree is on a 100+ year old ranch in Grass Valley and is the largest and healthiest Pear tree Adam has ever seen. He walked right by it because he thought is was an oak tree. We are not sure how often it fruits nor if it needs a pollinator tree for better production. There are other pears nearby, so it is probably part of an old orchard.
We are charging more for this unusual pear, because we only have a very limited number of this very rare pear.
Seckle Pear
The only American pear still grown commercially. Originally from New York and written about in late 1700’s, this variety was offered by Gillet starting in 1882. Small fruit with a chubby, round body, small neck, and short stem. Skin is olive green, frequently exhibits dark maroon blush that sometimes covers the entire surface of the pear. Bite size Seckel’s are exceptionally sweet, sometimes called sugar or candy pears. Best flavor. Perfect for lunch boxes or bags, particularly for children who love their sweet flavor. Small enough to be canned whole. A half of a Seckel can be a beautiful, tasty plate garnish. Excellent for juice and cider! Ripe Sept.- Oct. Can be kept through February. Tree is hardy, self fertile and very fireblight and coddling moth resistant. Very frost and rain hardy blooms ensure consistent crops. The tree grows upright rather than wide.
The grandmother tree grows on the English Ranch, a historic farm from the late 1800’s near North Columbia on the San Juan Ridge, Nevada County at 3000’. North Columbia was a booming hydraulic mining town, and the English Ranch was a prime supplier of fruits, nuts and beef in the day. In 2012 and 2014, during the drought, this tree bore more than 200 pounds of blemish free, great fruit!
Super Fin “Sierraville Sweet Gem”
This, as of yet, unidentified, unique variety grows only a branch that has been grafted to an old Bartlett pear, most likely as a pollinator. We haven’t researched it’s efficacy as a pollinator yet, but we have deemed it a very delicious and unique pear! It’s medium grain flesh is juicy, sweet and flavorful with very little astringency in the skin. All the pears have a curious patch of russet around it’s calyx. Ripens in late October to early November at 4800′.
This pear was found in the Sierra Valley, Sierra County, by our “Special Agent Double N,” as we call her. Sierra Valley, measuring 120,000 acres, is the largest alpine valley in North America. It sits at 4800′ while the surrounding mountains are between 6,000′-8,000′. Before the gold rush, this beautiful valley was inhabited by both the Washoe and Maidu tribes. Today it is a ranching and hay producing, lightly populated, beautiful valley.
Sugar Pear
This pear originally from France where it was called Sucré, or sugar pear. This gem of a pear is buttery and sugar sweet, melting and slightly perfumed with lots of juice. The fine-grained flesh is wrapped in a thin skin with very low astringency. This is purely a delicious luxury dessert pear. Sweeter and much more fine grained than the Bartlett. It ripens in Smartville, Ca throughout July at 850′ elevation. The tree is susceptible to fireblight, but manageable, and a bit of a slow grower.
The grandmother tree is located in Smartville of Yuba County at 850′ along the the shores of the Yuba River. The first building in Smartville was a hotel built by John Smart in 1856 shortly after gold was discovered in the area. Hydraulic mining became popular in the area and soon washed away many tons of soil from the foothills. Until a major freeze in the 1970s, Smartville was the home of multiple citrus orchards.
Royal d’Hiver
This late ripening fruit is large and shaped like a top – the epitome of pear shape. Skin is green turning to yellow with a bronze, sometimes carmine cheek. Covered with a smooth russeting often radiating from the base. Flesh is white tinged with yellow, crunchy, juicy, sweet, astringent, beautiful, complex fragrance and flavor. Good for all uses. Exceptional cider pear. Ripens November-December at 2300′. Keeps till spring.
The mother tree is a feral, no- irrigated, heavy bearing, smaller tree growing on an old homestead planted in the late 1800’s near Brownsville, Yuba County, CA @ 2300’. Once a thriving logging town, Brownsville was settled in 1862 and named for sawmill owner I.E. Brown. Unfortunately the mother tree was cut down and we did not save the genetics.
Triomphe de Vienne – formerly “Motherlode Bartlett”
The Triomphe de Vienne is an enormous Bartlett-type pear with sweet, buttery, melting flesh that gives off a floral perfume and has a slightly spicy aroma. Medium grained, firm but melting flesh. Excellent flavor with little to no astringency. Ripens in late summer at 3100′ with a consistent annual harvest. This extremely large, delicious pear is a feast unto itself. The mother tree lives in Dutch Flat, in an old orchard originally tended by the Chinese community.
The grandmother tree grows in Dutch Flat, Placer County, CA at 3100’. Dutch Flat was founded by German immigrants in 1851 and was once one of the richest gold mining locations in California. Its location next to the transcontinental railroad made it a natural for shipping fruit to the East, thus the proliferation of orchards in the area. This beautiful old town is absolutely full of heirloom fruit and nuts, many from Gillet’s nursery. We will be introducing other favorites in the coming years. A true goldmine of history is Dutch Flat.
Winter Nelis
A small to medium delicious pear with light brown russeting over a light green skin that becomes more golden when ripe. Its shape is fairly rounded with almost no neck. Flesh is creamy, juicy, aromatic and sweet, with good cooking and canning qualities – very good in cider blends. This is a winter ripening pear, that provided fresh food when everything else was done. Ripe in November and December at 2300′, and the quality remains good through January or February. Good pollenizer for Bartlett and many other pears. May also be used as a rootstock. Fireblight resistant variety!
The grandmother tree is a wild, non-irrigated, heavy-bearing, smaller tree growing on a homestead, planted in the late 1800s near Brownsville, Yuba County @ 2300’. Brownsville was a thriving logging town with numerous mills in the 1800s, supplying the mines and towns of the Sierra and Sacramento Valley with wood and wood products. Fortunately farmers planted these heirloom trees for feeding the loggers and miners.
QUINCE
Aphrodite’s Blush Quince
This unknown quince was planted around 1915 in Pioneer California. This is a delicious quince thats makes a pinkish red reduction. Aromatic and flavorful. Quince is an old world fruit that is coming back in style, but it must cooked down to eat it. Adding a quince to your applesauce adds extra zing, flavor and color. You can make a membrillo or add to soups or cook with meat. They are the most fragrant fruit there is but don’t down bite into it raw unless you want a puckering sour face. It is extremely astringent when raw.
Quince is the fruit of Aphrodite. From historic times quince jams have been included in nuptial festivities and gifts. Of course love comes in many forms, and Aphrodite is known not just for romantic love, but the love of a mother, a child and a friend, compassionate love for our fellow humans and other creatures. Adding a bit a quince to your food or making a jam is an act of love.
Goldie Quince
These medium-size quince grow in a hedge on an old homestead that has been completely bulldozed and replaced with buildings and roads. These fully fragrant fruit are very flavorful and make the darkest red reduction of any of the quince we know when cooked down. They make an excellent quince candy or membrillo and add a wonderful zing when cooked in with applesauce or slow cooked with meat. They seem productive but really hard to tell when they are so old and encroached by so much pavement. You must cook quince to eat it. The old timers would put quince in their dresser drawers and closets to make everything smell delicious.
A few of these bushes still cling to the edges of a development in Auburn where there used to be a sprawling homestead with pyracantha, figs, grapes and pears. Auburn has a rich agricultural and mining history, many remnants are still hanging around in odd corners, side streets and backroads. If you go to downtown Auburn you can find an enormous ginkgo tree towering over the buildings, planted over 100 years ago.
Pineapple Quince
The Pineapple is the quintessential quince. Bred by Luther Burbank in 1899, its perfumed aroma has a strong, sweet, pineapple fragrance. Old timers would put quince in their closets and drawers to freshen up their clothing. This productive plant, susceptible to fireblight, as are all quince, produces fruit in September and October. Very sturdy, drought tolerant plant. quince can be used as dwarfing rootstock for pear trees. Although edible when raw it is most often cooked and sweetened or added to apple sauce. There are many savory recipes for quince. Dulce de Membrillo is a traditional Spanish dessert usually paired with Manchego Cheese. The trees are slow growing and are between 1/4″ caliper and 3/8″ caliper
The grandmother trees are cared for by Cy Rollins and Sourdough, the donkey, in Goodyears Bar near the shore of the North Fork of the Yuba River, Sierra County. The Rollins family stewards many of our favorite trees still surviving from the Gold Rush era. Goodyears Bar was one of the original gold strikes on the N. Yuba and is called “Bar” not because of the proclivity of drinking miners, but for a then prominent sand bar in the river, now long gone. Goodyears Bar contains many heirloom gems which we are still discovering.