City Fruit | Harvest: Your Fruit

When is the fruit ready to harvest?

Deciding the best time for picking fruit is as much an art as a science. For one thing, not all the fruit on a tree is ripe at once: high fruit exposed to the sun is usually ready sooner than the lower, shaded fruits.

Plums

Plums are picked when they are sweet and slightly soft. In some trees, plums exposed to hot sun will be ripe while those in the shade will be hard. Unless you plan to go back to the tree later, it will be necessary to choose the point at which the most plums are ripe. Green plums don’t tend to ripen much after they are picked.

Apples & Asian Pears

Also picked when they are ripe. Twist the fruit: if it easily snaps off the branch, taste it for ripeness. Even tart apples lose that ‘chalky’ taste when they are ripe.

European Pears

Like Bartletts, these are picked green and hard (and allowed to ripen for a few days, or a week, after harvest.) A pear is ready to pick when the stem snaps readily away from the branch.

Fruit Picking Equipment

Orchard ladder

If possible, use an orchard ladder—not a stepladder. An orchard ladder has a wide base that tapers towards the top, and a single pole that extends out (see diagram). The tripod construction makes the ladder both more stable and maneuverable: the pole can be maneuvered in and around branches and leaders in the center of the tree so that the picker can climb up into the heart of the tree. An orchard ladder is also more stable when picking the outside branches, or canopy.

Extension ladders are safest when set into the center of the tree, against a trunk or main leader. Extension ladders shouldn’t be set against a branch at the outside of the tree.

Fruit picking tools

Fruit picking tools are most often used to pick fruit when standing on the ground. The most common tool, known as a ‘fruit picker,’ consists of a cage-like head (often lined with foam rubber to cushion the fruit) at the end of a pole. Many are constructed so you can add an extension pole to reach taller fruit. The ‘cage’ at the top of the pole is pronged, to pull the fruit from the tree. Fruit pickers are most effective for harvesting larger, hard fruits, such as pears, Asian pears and apples, and they can be purchased at hardware stores and online.

Picking bags

The best bags for harvesting have shoulder straps that leave the hands free and a top opening that allows easy access into the bag. The bag shouldn’t be too large (soft fruit gets crushed in big bags). Soft canvas or nylon bags are best, and a small backpack, worn backwards, also works well.

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Picking Fruit

The following tips apply to picking fruit:

For apples and pears, lift and twist. Plums will give easily.

Keep stems attached to fruit, if possible. (Fruit lasts longer if there isn’t a hole for bacteria to enter.)

Don’t overfill boxes and bags, especially with soft fruit.

If you pick up fruit off the ground, be sure to wash it. It can pose a risk of E coli.

Try to pick all the fruit, if possible, since fruit left on the tree (or under the tree) attracts fruit pests.

Clean Up

Since dropped fruit attracts pests, it shouldn’t be left beneath the tree. Rake it and put it into the yard waste bin or compost. Don’t put fruit infested with codling moth or apple maggot into your personal compost bin (city yard waste containers are okay).