Lesson 6
Harvesting and storage
Apples and pears do not ripen on the tree in the way a tomato does. They reach maturity — the point at which they will ripen if picked — and this is the moment to harvest. Pick too early and the fruit will shrivel in storage; pick too late and it will go mealy within days. The test is simple: cup the fruit in your palm and lift gently; if it parts from the spur with a slight twist, it is ready. If you have to pull, wait another week.
Early apples like Discovery and James Grieve are ready in August and must be eaten fresh; they do not store. Mid-season eaters like Egremont Russet and Cox ripen in late September and keep for four to six weeks in a cool shed. Late keepers like Ashmead's Kernel and Sturmer Pippin are picked in late October or early November and stored until spring. For storage, choose only unblemished fruit; a single damaged apple will rot and spread decay through the box.
Store apples in single layers on slatted trays in a dark, cool place at 2–4°C. A shed or garage works; a heated house does not. Check every two weeks and remove any fruit showing brown patches. Pears are different: they must be picked under-ripe and ripened indoors. A Conference pear picked in October will be rock-hard and inedible; bring it into a room at 18°C and it will ripen in two to three weeks, becoming sweet and buttery. The window of perfection is about three days, so check daily by pressing gently near the stalk — when it yields slightly, eat it.
Windfalls are not second-class. Bruised fruit is perfect for juice, cider or cooking within a day or two. If you have a glut, slice and freeze for crumbles, or make apple butter by slow-cooking with sugar and spices until it is thick and spreadable. Pears cook less well than apples but poach beautifully in red wine with cinnamon and star anise.
Numbers that matter
- Storage temperature: 2–4°C for apples, no warmer
- Pear ripening time: 2–3 weeks at 18°C after picking
- Checking interval: every 14 days for stored apples
- Fruit spacing when thinning: 10–15 cm apart, one per cluster
Storage potential by variety
- August eaters (Discovery, James Grieve): no storage, eat fresh
- October eaters (Egremont Russet, Cox): 4–6 weeks
- Late keepers (Ashmead's Kernel, Sturmer Pippin): until March
- Cooking apples (Bramley): until April if stored cool
- Pears (Conference, Comice): pick October, ripen and eat by Christmas
The picking and storage sequence
- 1.Test readiness by lifting and twisting gently; the fruit should part with the spur intact.
- 2.Handle carefully — even small bruises will rot in storage.
- 3.Lay apples in single layers on slatted wooden trays; keep in the dark at 2–4°C.
- 4.Check stored fruit every two weeks; remove any showing soft brown patches immediately.
- 5.For pears, pick under-ripe in October; ripen indoors at 18°C when you want to eat them.
- 6.Eat pears within three days of ripening — the window is brief.
If you have more fruit than you can eat or store, press it into juice and freeze in 1-litre bottles — it keeps a year and tastes far better than anything you can buy.