Pear Facts

Pears – “A Gift of the Gods”
Major Pear Types
Bartlet, Anjou, Bosc, Comise

Interesting Pear Facts

There are more than 3,000 varieties of pears world wide! In the United States, four pear varieties are commonly available: Bartlett, Anjou, Bosc and Comice, along with a few specialty types like Asian and Nellis pears.

I personally love to eat fresh pears and I like to use them in salads and other cooking endeavors and …I am lucky to live in Washington State.

Pear orchards are abundant in my home state of Washington and neighboring state of Oregon. They are a Northwest treasure, or as the Greek poet, Homer, described them, they are a “gift of the gods.”

Washington and Oregon are major pear producers for the entire world. This is probably the only region in the U.S. to possess the necessary combination of climate and geography needed to produce the high quality, delicious pears.

The rich volcanic soil, abundant water, warm days and cool nights creates ideal growing conditions for the pear varieties found in the Northwest.

There are four primary growing areas within these two states that account for the vast majority of marketable pears ( Mid-Columbia/Hood River area, the Medford District in southern Oregon, the Wenatchee Valley in north central Washington and the Yakima Valley).

Pear Facts

Just to give you an idea of how much these two states produce: