The International Perry Pear Project
The Concept
Perry pear trees and the perry made from them hold a special place in history. They have been celebrated from the west counties of England to the foothills of the Alps in Switzerland for hundreds of years. There are Medieval songs from Austria that mention drinking perry right back to 1264, and we can be quite sure this drink was made for centuries before that, as even the Romans made mention of it. By the 17th Century, in certain circles, perticular varieties whispered of, renowned for making the very best fine wines, and scions of these old varieties were traded across Europe.
But as fashions changed the fortunes of perry waxed and waned too. By the middle of the 20th Century, the industrialisation of farming and orcharding meant that there was no real place in modern agriculture for the imposingly beautiful standard form of the perry pear tree. They were grubbed out of the landscape to make room for mechanisation and more efficient large field systems. The trees that once lined tracks and field across central Europe were slowly being obliterated from the landscape. The replacement via modern orcharding would eventually concentrate on dessert fruit varieties (mostly apples) that were easy to grow using more intensive methods, and that would be easier to process, leaving many older classic varieties forgotten and creeping closer to extinction.
It is almost only thanks to national collections, like that held by the National Perry Pear Centre in England, the KOB in Bavendorf, Germany, or numerous private collections of members of the Preservation Network of the Pomologen Verein, that historically significant perry pear varieties are preserved and propagated.
In 2020 we decided we would like to play our part in contributing to such conservation efforts, by creating a traditional meadow orchard dedicated to historically significant, rare or endangered perry pear trees from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France and the UK. An environment that would be beneficial to nature, as well as helping offset our carbon footprint.
This is the International Perry Pear Project.
Ultimately, we’d like such an orchard to be part of a national collection, and to be able to provide scions for propagation in the future. And although we began with one plot, we have been lucky enough, in cooperation with our local council, to get access to other plots of land to extend the project. But there is much more to be done!
Goals and Benefits
First and foremost, the goal is to conserve and protect rare and endangered perry pear varieties. Many of these are varieties are centuries old, and protecting such varieties has many benefits, from conserving a gene pool, to preserving the cultural heritage long associated with many of these varieties. Ultimately, we’d like to see these trees, no longer considered commercially viable to use in modern orcharding, being used to make perry and other artisanal products, though that is something for the future.
Secondly, by restoring tillage to a flowering meadow that’ll never be sprayed, we hope to encourage a rich environment for insect and small mammal life. Over time we hope to add additional features to provide homes and food sources for wildlife, providing an oasis in an otherwise largely monocultural modern agricultural landscape.
Thirdly, there will be a degree of carbon sequestration, especially in the soil as organic components increase and the ground is left undisturbed. The trees will also eventually sequester carbon, but there is no real way to measure this effect, and it is likely just a tiny drop in the ocean. But every drop counts.
The Plan
The Phase 1 Orchard
In 2019 we started grafting trees, thinking ahead to a project like this, and from 2020 concentrated our grafting on rare pear varieties. But we needed to secure a safe space to plant them!
This first step was to purchase a small plot of land to guarantee that the planted trees would remain there. Thanks to the Phase 1 sponsors, we were able to buy a small field (just over half a hectare) that was under tillage. In May 2022 we sowed a regionally certified flowering meadow mix to convert the tillage into a traditional meadow, and left it in peace through 2023 so it could establish itself.
In March 2024 we planted 48 perry pear trees on this meadow, with a wide spacing of 10m between the rows and 10m between the trees in each row, giving these trees plenty of room to grow into full standard forms.
This was a significant investment, requiring funds we didn’t completely have ourselves. The costs we incurred included the cost of purchase of the land and associated legal fees, then the work needed to prepare the ground for sowing the meadow, as well as costs for the seed mix itself which was definitely not cheap for a regionally certified mix of grasses and wildflowers. Planting also incurred costs for the likes of stakes, protection against deer and rabbit/hare protection to stop them chewing bark and killing the young trees, mulching to retain moisture and general annual maintenance.
This phase of the project would not have been possible without our sponsors. We felt that this is a worthwhile project to support, so we opened up the possibility to sponsor trees and the meadow, earmarking funds received solely for this project. Within two weeks, practically all of the trees had been sponsored, and we will be eternally grateful to the generous sponsors, as it was a lot of money.
The Phase 2 Orchard
In 2023 we signed a lease for a meadow owned by the municipality of Schefflenz municipality. The plan was to simply plant trees on this site, but it was later decided to work in cooperation with Schefflenz in terms of shared efforts and funding.
Te plan is to improve the quality of the meadow, which was intensively farmed and low in biodiversity till now. By applying for so-called Ökopunkte (eco-points), the municipality can fund the work required, while the Ökopunkte also ensure that the trees must stay in place for at least 25 years, after which the general legal protection for meadow orchards will ensure that it remains in place.
This amazing development opened up the chance to plant 46 more rare and endangered perry pear trees. Half were planted in March 2025, and the remaining planted in March 2026. A maintenance plan for which we are repsonsible for implementing has been agreed, such that the meadow will improve in diversity as the new orchard establishes itself.
Future Phases
We hope to begin a Phase 3 by 2027, which will be a direct extension of the Phase 2 Orchard. However, just like Phase 1, it will involve reseeding tillage to convert it into a meadow, needing some additional investment. However, we are on the lookout for other land parcels, or joint projects to find a home for a couple hundred trees that are waiting to be planted out.
What Sponsors Received
For sponsors of Phase One, we wanted to make sure they were kept up to date on the progress of the project. As the orchards are planted, each tree will be mapped, and the location made available online to sponsors. When you sponsor a tree, your name (or the name of a person or family you might gift it to) will be associated with that tree, and you are then forever listed as the sponsor or co-sponsor. It’s up to you if you want your name to be visible to visitors or not. You will also receive a certificate to confirm sponsorship, and which tree you have sponsored.
Each tree will be periodically photographed so they can monitor the progress of their tree remotely. We’ll make semi-regular update videos of the overall work, as well as occasional profiles of the pears planted, to which sponsors will get early access. To this end, we will send periodic newsletters to sponsors with updates and progress reports, but there will also be public updates via BlueSky and Instagram. If there are any requests for custom content for sponsors, we’d be happy to try and oblige!
At some stage in the future, the trees will be mature enough to carry fruit. When there is enough, an initial orchard mix perry will be made (though that could take 15 years). Sponsors are welcome to come visit their sponsored tree any time!