Medford Pear Orchard

10/30/2020

Last Call For 2020 Pear Sales:

The last day for 2020 pear sales at the welfare farm will be Tuesday, November 10.

The supply is dwindling fast so if you want pears don’t put it off any longer. There are only a few boxes of each of the varieties left.

Price for a box of pears is as follows:

Bartletts $15
Pargons $20
Asians $20
Red Anjous $15
Bosc $15

If you have any questions or need more information, please contact Sis. Olsen at 541-331-5640.

09/23/2020

The 2020 harvest is over! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! We appreciate everyone who served and help contribute to the success of the harvest for 2020!

09/22/2020

Thank you to all of those who showed up today to help pick the winter pairs. We have picked everything from the ground and are still in need of help from the ladders tomorrow! If you can look at your schedule and make some time to come to the orchard, that would be great!

09/14/2020

Due to the fires and smoke the harvest of the Bosc and Red Anjou pears, also known as the winter pears, has been postponed until the week of September 21. All of the signups on the online signup will be canceled and new dates will be posted by Tuesday.

09/02/2020

The harvest continues! Its time to harvest Red Anjou and Bosc Pears! Volunteers needed.

Even though the Bartlett pear harvest is complete there is still a bit more work to be done before the 2020 pear harvest is completed. We still have the Bosc and Red Anjou pears, also known as the “winter pears” or “Christmas pears”, to pick. These are all located in the lower orchard off Delta Waters and there are only a few rows of each variety. It is estimated there are only about 40 bins, total of these pears so if we have a good turnout of helpers it should go pretty quickly. As is true for the Bartlett pears, we will first pick from the ground and then use the platforms to pick the upper half of the trees.

Online signup is available for ground work (although it is not necessary to sign up for ground work) and both the blue and orange platforms. The platforms shifts will only be two hours in length, and are scheduled to start at 7am on Tuesday, September 15. The online signup runs through Friday the 18th but it is hoped we will be finished in just a couple of days – and we will if we have a good turnout of volunteers. This is the final phase of harvest and we will continue working until the last pear is picked off the trees.

Platform shifts are as follows:

7am – 9am

9am – 11am

11am – 1pm

5pm – 7pm

7pm – 9pm



As was mentioned above, all work is in the lower orchard, off Delta Waters.



To see the work schedule and to sign up go to www.medfordpearorchard.org and take the link to volunteer at the welfare farm.

08/30/2020

Monday, August 31, Asian pears will be available at the welfare farm. Same hours of availability as for the Bartletts. These are not picked until they are ripe so they are ready to eat.

The price for the Asians is $20 / box.

08/27/2020

PEARS FOR SALE!

Beginning 8/31/2020, Bartlett pears will go on sale at the Medford Welfare Farm barn, 2750 N. Foothill Rd., Medford, OR 97504. The barn will be staffed from 9 - 3 on Monday thru Friday. No sales on Saturday or Sunday. Pear sales will continue until all pears are sold or October 31, 2020, whichever is sooner. Please call the phone numbers posted in the barn for service if no one is there to assist you.

Price is $15.00 for approximately a 25 pound box of Bartlett pears.

08/26/2020

Ø 2020 Bartlett pear harvest completed at 9:15am on Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Ø Total bin count has been pretty close to the 1800 estimated. A final count will be known in a few days.

Ø Thanks to the hundreds of people, both young and old, who worked to make the harvest a success.

Ø Pears for purchase will go on sale next week. Further details will be forthcoming.

Ø With the end of harvest the welfare farm is closed for gleaning.

08/24/2020

Ø Approximately 1700 bins of pears have been picked to-date – about 94% done.

Ø Roughly 70-80 bins are left to pick.

Ø Both platforms are in blocks C/D of the upper orchard.

Ø With the staffing currently signed up for the platforms, we should finish late Tuesday. Sooner if we can keep the orange platform running!

Ø Ladder picking will mainly be cleanup

Thank you to everyone who has and who continues to service in the orchard!

08/20/2020

1593 bins so far!

Ø Platforms, platforms, platforms! Many of the platform shifts are looking good but there are still some gaping holes and we will have to cancel some shifts if they don’t get filled.
Ø Don’t miss out on working on the platform this year. Hurry and sign up before it’s too late
Ø To sign up go to www.medfordpearorchard.org and follow the instructions.
Ø Picking the Bosc and Red Anjous in the lower orchard will most likely start around the third week in September. If we have a good turnout these shouldn’t take more than a couple of days.

We have designed this site to help provide information for members and others who would like to serve at the Welfare farm. The buttons to the left will direct you to information about upcoming projects, stake and ward assignments, training, and the harvest.

08/16/2020

Ø Approximately 550 bins of pears were picked from Thursday thru Saturday That brings the total number of bins picked to between 1300-1400 or about 75% done.

Ø Ground picking is complete but there is still much ladder work to be done. There are about 12 rows in block ‘K’ yet to be picked, most of ‘J’ , and about 20 rows in block ‘I’, plus a lot of cleanup work.

Ø Both platforms still have several slots that need to be filled – this is especially true for the early shifts on Monday. IF we can keep the platforms running we may be able to finish the majority of the work by the weekend. IF we keep the platforms running to full capacity.

Ø As was mentioned last week, right now we are not selling Bartlett pears off the trees. These will only be for sale after we meet our commitment to the church and local food banks. However, gleaning pears off the ground can take place until harvest is completed, at which time the welfare farm is closed to the public.

08/13/2020

Thursday afternoon update: Whole Tree Pickers & Platform Pickers Wanted! Because the pears are so light this year the ground picking has gone fairly quickly and, combine that with the great turnout we had Wednesday evening with people from Klamath Falls, Grants Pass, Central Point, and Roseburg the ‘ground only’ work is complete. However, blocks ‘I’, ‘J’, and ‘K’ still have “whole tree” picking to be done which means both ground and ladder work. If you are comfortable using a ladder, please come out and help. We would like to get those three blocks completed without the platforms.
The goal with the platforms is to keep both platforms full EVERY SHIFT from now until the end of the harvest! We URGENTLY need more drivers and pickers to sign up for picking on the platforms. Thank you for your continued service in the orchard!