Do you ship?
I love pears....I make an "apple pie" that contains no apples. Just pears! And I dare you to tell the difference. I bet your wife will find lots of goodies to make with those pears, plus they are just plain good to eat in their natural form. I like that I can eat the skin.
I have become VERY interested in farming indoors on a very micro scale. I want to grow lettuce especially. But I also want tomatoes, a variety that will do well indoors. Do you know anything about growing with lights? I have become good at growing that certain plant I like.
I do not yet know the needs of lettuce and tomatoes. Are there any diminutive fruit trees that can be grown to fruit indoors?
I could ship them via UPS or fedex and i am sure they would be fine--however--we only have what we will eat so far. the trees are still relatively small-we have more young ones growing
we mostly just eat them after a few days of setting. we also use them and apples to marinate beef or pork adds to tenderness and gives the meat a sweet flavor, kind of like using honey but less noticeable
from what i have been told/read=the trick is to keep the apple/pear trees pruned (apples and pears are virtually the same thing, many ppl don't realize that, but you have figured that out) so they produce as much as possible (eliminate vertical growth as only horizontal branches produce fruit) and to have as many trees as your land can sustain
many ppl think that big tree = max fruit- not true for these guys
Have you ever had asian pears? doesn't matter the name--chojuro, nashi, japanese pear, korean pear several varieties of the same basic thing
===also a cool thing happened this yr. Several yrs ago, we saved seeds from a d'anjou pear we bought in the store. we got some seeds to grow but didn't expect to get fruit (many store fruits are modified so you cant get fruit from a homegrown tree)
but we did--so we moved the tree closer to the house--protect from deer/bear--and this yr it apparently cross pollinated with one of our korean pear trees\ what we got were smallish egg shaped green/yellow pears apparently a hybrid cross pollinated creation--they were very ugly but very very sweet
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lettuce and spinach should be very easy to grow--trick is to not overheat them--they are a cool weather crop, and to not overwater them
we have grown stuff indoors to get them started under "brooder lights" (they are way cheaper then the lights marketed for growth) with standard 100 w bulbs on a timer set to mimick sunrise/sunset
but they are mostly early started tree and bush seeds
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there are several trees you should be able to grow indoors near a window
thing about many fruit trees--since they are deciduous and products of the northern hemisphere (apples and pears are from central asia originally it is believed)--they need a winter/resting (chill hours) season or at least your ability to mimick one
many online ordering nurseries--i have never had a problem with many of them--have some variety of mini dwarf fruit trees
you could probaly keep them potted and on your front or back stoop during the winter there and then bring them in at spring (after the bees do their work!) to protect the buds and fruit from kids and other varmints
these only get about 6' tall but could be trained to produce at a lower height with care
http://www.raintreenursery.com/Fruit_Trees/Apples/Mini_-_Dwarf_Apples/
and the "fruit salad" trees
http://www.groworganic.com/multi-grafted-western-fruit-salad-standard.html
i have noticed that Cali has a lot of restrictions so better check before you get your mind set on anything
do you have a flat roof on your apt? do you have access? if so, those make safer growing spots also