Picking your moment

Knowing exactly when to pick your fruit isn't as straightforward as it may appear. Even the professionals get it wrong. Fruit expert David Patch has advice to help you tell when the time is ripe

- David Patch

I know in these turbulent times, deciding when to pick your fruit won’t exactly class as a first world problem. However, it is one of life’s more infuriating little moments when you buy a supposedly ripe and ready to eat avocado, only to get home and discover you could knock nails in with it. So how are we going to ensure that our homegrown produce is picked at its absolute best, ripened to perfection and ready to enjoy or store for future use? Well, there are some basic guidelines about what to look for, and armed with this knowledge you can be certain to harvest at the right time. After all, this is the highlight of the year for the fruit gardener – finally getting the chance to savour the results of months of care and attention. Let’s not mess it up at the final moment!

KNOWING YOUR VARIETY

There are many factors at play which can alter the best date for picking by many weeks. The first and most important is the specific variety – with apples, for example, the earliest such as ‘Summer Golden Pippin’ may be ready in late July, whereas a late-season variety such as ‘Winston’ may need until late October to be picked. If you know which variety you have planted, a quick search on the internet will give you a rough idea of what stage of the season it is likely to be ripe. If you have inherited a tree, the first year will be a bit of a trial run, but hopefully, you will have enough knowledge after reading this to have an educated guess!