Storing apples and pears
Growing apples and pears can be very rewarding, but also a bit frustrating. After the trials and tribulations of getting the fruit to maturity, you are then faced with what to do with the bumper crops come harvest time. The key to success is careful planning, searching out the varieties you like to eat and then combining them, so that they produce reliable crops in succession over several months. Some apple varieties are best eaten straight away and will not store successfully, while others actually improve with a spell in the cool-house. Pears, on the other hand, are hard as nails straight off the tree and need to be ripened indoors after harvesting.
Tools for the job
To store or not to store?
- Eat off the tree – any ripe apple, but all eating apples that ripen before mid-September.
- Eat within a fortnight - all eating apples that ripen during the second half of September.
- Store for months – all late-ripening eating apples, cookers such as ‘Bramley’s Seedling’ and all pears.
Harvest your apples when they come away from the tree easily if cupped in the palm of your hand and given a gentle twist. Pick over the tree several times if necessary, starting with the sunny side and the fruit higher up. Pears are more tricky, because they should be harvested slightly under-ripe – but mature enough to come away from the tree with just an upward twist of the fruit. The colour of pears changes subtly, too, becoming lighter when ready to harvest. If you pick too early they will shrivel, too late and they will ripen on the tree - turning mealy and gritty.
How to store apples Popular late varieties that are excellent for storing include ‘Cox’s Orange Pippin’, ‘Crispin’, ‘Jonagold’ and ‘Laxton’s Superb’. Be selective when choosing individual fruit to store. Inspect them for any signs of damage, such as insect holes, bird pecks or chafing where the fruit has rubbed against the tree. Any imperfect fruit should not be stored. If you have a lot of fruit, sort them by size, since medium-sized fruit can be stored for longer periods than large fruit. Wrap the apples individually in pieces of newspaper and place them into dimpled, cardboard trays – your local supermarket will have an ample supply of these. Once packed, place them in a cool, but frost-free place, such as a cellar, garage or garden shed. Keep an eye on the temperature fluctuations using a max/min thermometer. Check the apples weekly while they are in storage and remove any fruit showing signs of deterioration and use these immediately. Apples stored in ideal conditions should last for up to six months.
How to store pears Two of my favourite varieties of pear, ‘Conference’ and ‘Doyenne du Comice’, just happen to be the best for storing. They need to be picked hard, green and under ripe. Do not wrap the fruit, but lay them out in dimple cardboard trays, so they are easy to inspect. Since pears can deteriorate very quickly, it is essential that you regularly check them and remove any that are showing signs of deterioration. A few days before you want to eat the pears, bring them into a warm room indoors and place them on the fruit bowl to ripen. Pears stored in ideal conditions should last for up to four months.
