Bramley apples

[Borlotti]

My tree is loaded with apples and the branches are nearly breaking with the weight, has pulled a few of the small apples off where they are growing too close to the large ones.  Some of them look quite big now, when are they ready to eat/cook.  Do I have to wait until September/October or are they early this year.  Anyone else got Bramleys.  Have been told I have to stake the tree next year so have got a big metal pole ready.  A few blackberries are going black, but know that the apples are usually ready after the blackberries.  Will go up this afternoon and see what the heavy rain has done, might get some runner beans.  ;D ;D  I am very impatient and pulled up two cabbages as they were too close together and they tasted very good, although a bit small.  Trying to leave my cauliflower to get bigger but it is tempting to pick it before the slugs or someone else gets it.  >:( >:(

[Borlotti]

[small]

I pick my Bramleys (East Midlands) at the end of September, when they will keep through till February/March. Try the ripeness test: gently lift the apple against its stalk, if ripe it will detach. I think it's far too early, but then again my blackberries are still small and green - they usually start to ripen mid-august.

[Robert_Brenchley]

If the crop's that heavy you might have been better to thin last month. It's probably not too late. Bramley's is a known biennial bearer. If you're not careful, it'll crop so heavily one year that if you don't thin it, the following year it'll be too exhausted to crop at all. The third year, it'll have had a rest, so once again it'll have a massive crop, and so on. Thinning is the only way to guard against it.