As summer winds down, the fruit you’ve been growing is most likely about to reach optimum maturity, which means it’s nearly time for harvesting. When you do begin to harvest your fruit, here are a few tips:
- Make sure the fruit is mature and ready to be picked. If picked while ‘mature,’ your fruit will ripen after it’s harvested. ‘Optimum maturity’ is when a fruit has reached its best quality for harvest.
- Start in the morning on a cool day. Picking the fruit while it’s cool and then continuing to cool it as soon as possible helps to ensure quality and shelf life. If the fruit is wet or moist, it will spoil more quickly.
- Consider harvesting in stages. For example, plums can be picked as they ripen, whereas apple trees may need up to 3 different pickings.
- Carefully pick the fruit from the tree. For most fruits, you’ll want to twist and lift up rather than pulling straight down from the branch. Also remember to hold the fruit gently in your palm with little to no finger pressure to avoid bruising, depending on the fruit.
- Watch out for wasps! yes, they love our fruits, too. Wasps can create holes in the fruit from which to feed, so stay alert when reaching up into trees and bushes.
- Delicately place in your harvesting container. Just as you’re careful in picking the fruit from the tree, you should also be careful in placing it. Dropping fruit into the container may cause bruising. When picking apples, use a large, soft bag.
- Enjoy or store! Now that you’ve harvested your fruit, you’ll want to eat it as soon as possible, or preserve or freeze it, depending on what plans you have in mind for your crop.
When you’re ready for harvest, consider having Commercial Bag & Supply provide you with custom made fruit harvesting bags to make your fruit harvesting process even more simple.
