Picking fruit at the top of the tree

Tim Rumball explains how to make sure you retrieve your fruit crop successfully

- Tim Rumball

APPLES, pears, plums and cherries are traditional and widespread ‘top fruits’ or tree fruits grown in the UK. Once established, they are incredibly easy to look after – the biggest job is picking the often huge crops produced from midsummer to autumn.

Modern cultivated varieties are usually grafted onto dwarfing rootstock to keep the crop within reach, so picking is much less of a problem than it used to be. However, there are still significant numbers of older full-sized trees around, as well as ‘dwarfing’ plants grown in fertile ground that get taller than they should, putting at least some of the crop out of easy reach.

Judging when it’s ripe

Fruit should not be picked until it is ripe. Many top fruits will continue to ripen after picking, but for the best flavour, they should ripen on the tree. Judging when the fruit is ripe is something you learn. Size, colour, smell and ‘feel’ all play a part, but generally if you cup a large fruit in your hand and gently lift and twist (don’t tug), it will come away if it is ripe and stay put if it is not.

For dessert cherries and plums, smell, colour and taste are important. Pick fruit and sniff – it should be aromatic, brightly coloured and turgid with juice when you bite into it. For sour-tasting cooking apples and cherries, stick to colour, size and smell.

The kit needed

Having established that your crop is ready for picking, a bit of preparation will help you to manage it. You’ll need storage trays for top-quality fruits, a separate one for blemished or damaged fruits to use up first, and a bag or tub for rubbish that’ll go on the compost heap.