Topic: When do I pick my apples?

[kt.]

This is the first year that my apple tree has truly performed (4yr old).  It has an abundance of apples but the one I tasted 4 days ago tasted a bit sour.  They look ripe enough but when are they best to be picked?  How will I know?  I don't want to lose them to falling and rotting on the ground.

[Barnowl]

Afraid getting it right comes a bit with experience but basically if they come off when you pull with a slight twist they are ready, otherwise leave them.

[artichoke]

Fruit from my large old apple tree (cox type) taste very sharp at the moment and I have learned over the years that they are at their best from mid-September to early October. That means that many fall off while I'm waiting, and I make them into sauces and pies or leave them on the ground to dig in later as compost.

[saddad]

Do you know the variety? Some dessert apples are picked at the end of Oct to store for use in Dec-March....  ???

[tonybloke]

we wait 'til the wasps start on one!

[realfood]

Other indicators of ripeness include a change in the background green colour of the apple to yellow-green, and the apples start to really smell of apples.

[Borlotti]

I picked my two Bramley apples today and am cooking them with pork as apple sauce.  I know I should have left them but was a bit scared they might have been stolen from the allotment.  A brilliant tree, brought from Morrisons 3 years ago and is doing well.  Had about 6 apples earlier on and have cooked and frozen them as apple sauce.  Perhaps when I have hundred and thousands, dream on, I will wait until Sept/Oct but was just so excited about these apples and counted them on the tree.

[Robert_Brenchley]

If it's a small tree, shake it. The apples are usually ready when they drop off. that being said, I have had the odd year when I had to keep my Egremont Russet for 3-4 weeks after they fell.