Apple Picking - Beulah, Colorado
As temperatures start to wind down for the summer, the air starts to get crisp in Colorado. With fall, come the change in colors, dewy grass and shorter days. It's a little bit early for apple picking, but we pick our first group of apples on August 7th, in remembrance of my grandmothers death. This was day our grandmother died. Here are some helpful tips on how to pick your apples from the tree,
1. Twist Apples Instead Of Pulling - A common method for picking apples is to simply grab hold and pull until they come off the branch, but this can be damaging to the tree and it can cause other apples to drop. If you look closely, you’ll notice that apples don’t grow on the main branches of the apple tree, but actually grow on short sub-branches called spurs. By casually pulling an apple off a tree, it’s easy to pull off the short spur branch with it, eliminating a valuable fruit-producing branch and reducing the number of places on the tree that can produce apples. Instead of simply pulling on the apple, you’ll want to twist it instead, forcing the stem of the apple to separate from the spur branch. This way, you won’t cause any damage to your tree, keeping everything in shape for future years of apple production.
2. Don’t Use An Apple Picker - An apple picking device is convenient for reaching the highest apples on a tree, but it gives you much less control over the way you pick the apples and can easily damage the spur branches. Instead, use a stepladder to reach the higher branches, taking care to twist the apples to remove them properly.
3. Grasp Apples With The Palm Of Your Hand - When picking your apples, be sure to hold them in the palm of your hand, rather than using your fingers. The pressure applied by your fingers or by the grip of an apple picker can bruise the fruit, whereas using the palm of your hand provides a softer grip, preventing damage.
4. Select Only Ripe Apples - If the apples on your trees aren’t fully ripe, they won’t be nearly as delicious to eat, and they will also be harder to remove from the spur branches. A fully ripe apple separates easily from the branch, so if you’re having a hard time twisting them off, they probably aren’t ripe, even if they otherwise appear to be. Some people judge ripeness by the color of the apple, and some prefer to break one open and see if the seeds are brown (brown seeds are a sign of a ripe apple), but neither approach is perfect. One of the best ways to check if a tree’s apples are ripe is to simply taste one of the apples—if it tastes good, you’re all set!
5. Don’t Drop Your Apples Into Your Baskets - Because apples are easily bruised, avoid dropping them into your bushel baskets. Instead, carefully set the apples in the basket so that they won’t bang against one another. To save your back from bending down too often, bring a chair or stool to place your basket on, raising it to a height that makes it easy to place the apples inside.
We hope these techniques, help you when harvesting your own apples. Having said that, let the harvest begin!
1. Twist Apples Instead Of Pulling - A common method for picking apples is to simply grab hold and pull until they come off the branch, but this can be damaging to the tree and it can cause other apples to drop. If you look closely, you’ll notice that apples don’t grow on the main branches of the apple tree, but actually grow on short sub-branches called spurs. By casually pulling an apple off a tree, it’s easy to pull off the short spur branch with it, eliminating a valuable fruit-producing branch and reducing the number of places on the tree that can produce apples. Instead of simply pulling on the apple, you’ll want to twist it instead, forcing the stem of the apple to separate from the spur branch. This way, you won’t cause any damage to your tree, keeping everything in shape for future years of apple production.
2. Don’t Use An Apple Picker - An apple picking device is convenient for reaching the highest apples on a tree, but it gives you much less control over the way you pick the apples and can easily damage the spur branches. Instead, use a stepladder to reach the higher branches, taking care to twist the apples to remove them properly.
3. Grasp Apples With The Palm Of Your Hand - When picking your apples, be sure to hold them in the palm of your hand, rather than using your fingers. The pressure applied by your fingers or by the grip of an apple picker can bruise the fruit, whereas using the palm of your hand provides a softer grip, preventing damage.
4. Select Only Ripe Apples - If the apples on your trees aren’t fully ripe, they won’t be nearly as delicious to eat, and they will also be harder to remove from the spur branches. A fully ripe apple separates easily from the branch, so if you’re having a hard time twisting them off, they probably aren’t ripe, even if they otherwise appear to be. Some people judge ripeness by the color of the apple, and some prefer to break one open and see if the seeds are brown (brown seeds are a sign of a ripe apple), but neither approach is perfect. One of the best ways to check if a tree’s apples are ripe is to simply taste one of the apples—if it tastes good, you’re all set!
5. Don’t Drop Your Apples Into Your Baskets - Because apples are easily bruised, avoid dropping them into your bushel baskets. Instead, carefully set the apples in the basket so that they won’t bang against one another. To save your back from bending down too often, bring a chair or stool to place your basket on, raising it to a height that makes it easy to place the apples inside.
We hope these techniques, help you when harvesting your own apples. Having said that, let the harvest begin!
Apple Picking Time - August 7th
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