Get the best out of your fruit and keep it through the dark months. Here's how to pick and store.
Created by jflgardens.co.uk
Autumn is fruit time. If you spend a little care picking and storing your apple and pear crop now, you keep your own sweet fruit on the table right through winter, instead of letting it fall to the ground and bruise. A few simple steps make all the difference.
Test an apple by lifting and twisting it gently — if it comes away cleanly with the stalk attached, it is ready. Many fruits keep ripening off the tree, so pick while firm and handle each with care rather than letting them drop and bruise.
A bruise is the first step to fruit spoiling, so avoid throwing or dropping when you pick. Take hold of each fruit and twist so the stem stays intact, and lay it in a lined basket or tray with a little air around it rather than heaped on top of others.
Only keep the soundest, unblemished fruit, and lay each one alone on slatted shelving, or wrap it so the skin does not touch a neighbour. Stored in a cool, dark, frost-free garage or shed, and brought out to check every few weeks, apples and pears last for months.
Take out any fruit that softens or shows any sign of rot, and make the best use of both the fine and the slightly bruised — for eating, baking, juicing or sharing. A little regular attention keeps your autumn harvest at its best right through the winter.
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