If you have apple or pear trees in your garden or orchard (or even late varieties of plum), this is an extremely bountiful time of year. Picking fruit at the right stage of ripeness is crucial for getting the best flavour as well as maximum storage time, so we explain the difference between maturity and ripeness as well as correct techniques for picking and storage.
For the trees that were harvested earlier in the season, it’s time to be starting to think about post-harvest nutrition and soil building, and how weeds can play an important role in the health of your soil. Late summer pruning may not be finished, and as long as there’s still fruit on the tree, it’s important to keep paying attention to disease prevention.
Growing your own fruit trees from scratch requires lots of small jobs throughout the year, and this season is the perfect time to be collecting seeds to grow your own root stocks – we explain how!
Happy harvests!
Katie and Hugh