Pear tree

I'd just give both a try.

Some pears are hard when on the tree and need to be stored a while to ripen, BUT watch them they can go over ripe quickly. If the fruits are small try thinning the crop early in the season to allow those left to grow. I am not aware of any non edible pears, are you sure it's a pear and not a quince ?

Having thought, that should be most pears are hard on the tree.

They are about two inches long and if I leave to get any bigger they just fall off like windfalls otherwise look like normal pears

I think they may be Conference. They are hard and even when ripe very crunchy. I like them cooked. Pears ripen much later than apples (in my opinion) but I think it is Michael McIntyre who does a brilliant sketch about pears ripening (something along the lines of - they are always rock hard and you have to watch them like hawks, then the minute your back is turned, even for a second, they go over and mushy - he is not wrong.

I used to have a conference pear tree in the garden they were ready for picking quite late in the season from the beginning of october and even then you had to bring them indoors for about 2 weeks to completely ripen.

I find hard pears cook quite nicely in a drop of red wine or port!

Well thanks, in the back of my mind I had the thought that he said conference all those years ago, but I wonder why they drop off at 2 inches do you think it's because they are in a fairly contained area
So you don't think I ll poison myself if I cook them LOL

Maybe if you thin them out next year before they get to 2 inches the ones that are left will get bigger?

Pressed send too soon. And maybe they won't fall off if they are not so crowded and not pushing against each other?

We ll give it a go Elegran it's not packed with fruit there's only two branches that have them on but I ll try it next year and see what happens

I have similar, but two large trees established well before I moved here. One of the trees is in a field and the horses hoover up the very small fruit when it drops off the tree; they love them. Mine are even smaller than BlueBell's, more like 1 1/2inches but they taste lovely, very like a Conference pear. I'm wondering if they are wild pears.

Are wild pears ebible Maizie? I ve never heard of them I was thinking like you're advised not to eat crab apples I wondered if it was the same kind of thing