Prickly Pears

But if you pick a wrong pear then next time beware....love it Amanda

In Sicily, I remember my father using a cane to painlessly pick these. He chose quite a fat sturdy cane and made 4 star cuts in one end - about 5 cms -then placed a little wedge at the base of each cut to widen them. This contraption was then used to gently cup each fruit, a slight twist and the pear would be effortlessly removed from the plant and carefully placed into the basket .... yummy

Terry I understand how to go about making the "instrument" from a cane but does one size fit all? How do you you remove the picked fruit from the cane to put it in the basket?

Mmmm good point Gardengnome - being conical, size didn't seem to be a problem and I think he used to drop them into the basket, holding the cane upside down and gently prising the pear out with a twig or similar.

How come it all gets back to Disney? Now this reminds me of Baloo the Bear and Mogli !! :)