CRUNCH TIME
As apple season begins, now’s the time to enjoy the fruit from your tree – including windfalls ALAN
GARDENS once contained ancient ent apple and pear trees that had been en there for generations, so everyone ne knew when to pick the fruit and nd how to keep it.
But fashions changed during g the ‘designer’ years and now peo- ple have gone back to growing g fruit, which means a lot of uncer- tainty about garden crops.
The season starts with windfalls. Only full-sized fruit is worth eating and it needs using quickly, as bruising means it will soon go rotten.
A lot of windfalls have maggots inside so are usually used for cooking. Just cut out the nasty bits its and any you can’t use instantly can be stewed and frozen.
The cream of the crop is the perfect fruit that remains on the tree to full term.
Ideally, you need to know which variety you’re growing, as each has its own best picking date.
If you don’t know, send some to the RHS (if you are a member) for identification or take a few to an apple day event.
As soon as the first apples seem to reach full size and colour, try one. If it parts company easily with the branch when you lift it gently in the palm of your hand, it’s ready to pick. Otherwise, wait another week and try again. Or, cut one open. If the pips are brown, it’s
BUMPER
Gather windfalls ripe.
Early varieties of dessert apples ripen between late July and early September and are best eaten virtually from
PRESERVE: Store apples in stacking trays
THE DAY: are ready to
SHARE: store the tree.
Discovery, a popular apple, ripens from late July onwards and George Cave is ready to eat from the tree August to September.
Most other eaters and a few
TASTY: Some apples you can eat almost straight from the tree cookers cook are ready in October. Egremont E Russets are ready in September; Worcester Pearmain (September to October); Bramley’s Seedling (mid-October).
Any apples that haven’t ripened by mid to late October are normally picked then anyway. They then will need to be stored undercover in a cool, steady temperature.
When it comes to pears, things are trickier. In most cases, you have to pick and store them, then bring them into a warm room to ripen. Early varieties are ready in September and the rest need picking in about mid-October.
Store apples and pears in the salad drawer of the fridge or a layer deep in stacking trays in a brick or concrete garage with no windows or gaps.
Try to use up any pears by Christmas and if you haven’t finished them all by then, cook and freeze them.
The cream of the crop is the perfect fruit that remains on the tree to full term.