After years of cultivation and year-round attention to orchard maintenance, it may finally be time to harvest from your fruit trees! It is often quite simple to tell when fruits are ready, as ripe fruits are well-colored and are easily plucked off the spur, with little resistance.  
 
The ground color, or the color of the fruit’s skin disregarding any red areas, is a good way to determine whether or not the fruit is ready to be harvested. However, if you have no experience harvesting, or if you have some unfamiliar fruits in your space, have no fear! Below is a guide, and you can always contact us or send us photos with questions.
 
Remember to track total yield of your harvests for POP’s annual end-of-season survey! If you need a POP waterproof orchard notebook or assistance in estimating poundage, let us know.  
 
If you ever find that you have excess harvest, please contact info@phillyorchards.org to set up a POPHarvest community gleaning date so that nothing goes to waste!**
 
As always, one of the best ways to determine whether or not a fruit is ripe is by conducting a taste test. When a fruit appears to be ripe, and separates easily from the spur, try a bite of it to see how it tastes.
 
European Pears
 
Pears are different from most other fruits in that they need to ripen off the tree before they’re ready to eat. European pears should be picked when the ground color of the fruit has turned pale green to slightly yellow. If you wait to pick them until they look ripe, the quality will be poor and they’ll quickly rot in storage. 
 
There are two types of European pears that are commonly grown in orchards: summer pears and winter pears. Summer pears are usually harvested in August or September and can be kept at room temperature until ready to eat. Winter pears are usually harvested in September or October and should be placed in cold storage (44º or below) for at least three weeks before they are ready to eat.
  
Summer pear varieties:
Bartlett, Starkcrimson, Harrow Delight, Shenandoah, Colette

Winter pear varieties:
Anjou, Bosc, Comice, Moonglow, Potomac, Kieffer

European pears that may ripen on the tree:
Seckel, Lincoln

 

Asian pears
 

​Asian pears are ready to pick and eat as soon as they look ripe on the tree (usually sometime late August through early September). Make sure there are no areas of green left in the ground color, and try a sample before harvesting them all. Some varieties appear more brown, some more yellow, and others a bit more green. If you’re worried about pest pressure, harvesting them a bit early may help, and allowing them to ripen off the tree will be just fine.

 

Apples

Apples come in a wide variety of colors, shapes, and sizes!  Once they are picked, apples stop ripening, and only begin to grow soft. Apples should be harvested when the ground color turns from green to yellow (August to early October depending on variety). With many varieties, a very full red color indicates the fruit is ripe, but reddish color doesn’t always indicate the fruit is ripe, so be sure to check the ground color. Yellow apples will show ripeness when all green is gone from their skin. Of course, there are also a few apple varieties (like Granny Smith) that stay green when ripe!  Various cultivars will have different skin coloring, so check the characteristics of your cultivars in order to help determine whether or not it is ready to be picked.

Additionally, watch for healthy apples that begin dropping to the ground, and make sure that your apple seeds are brown rather than white, indicating mature seeds. While unhealthy or damaged apples may fall from the tree anytime, healthy apples typically only begin falling when the fruit is ripe.

Figs

The primary fig crop starts generally ripening in mid August to early September (with proper winter protection, an even earlier ‘Breba’ crop is sometimes possible). Figs should be left to ripen mostly on the tree, although they will continue to soften and sweeten for a few days if picked close to ripe. Unripe figs are green, but different varieties ripen to shades of red, purple, brown, yellow, and some even stay green!  The neck of the fruit will soften and wilt slightly and the fruit will hang down when fully ripe. It is best to pick the fruit with some of the stem attached to delay spoilage. Figs will bruise easily so it is important to handle with care and not pack them tightly on top of one another.   

 

Hardy Almonds
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The almonds that grow best in our climate zone are actually a cross between a peach and an almond (‘Reliable’ and ‘Hall’s Hardy’ are cultivars we’ve planted with good success). They are best to harvest in late August to early October. The fruit is ready for harvest when it starts to split, and some may fall to the ground. Shake the tree to allow the rest of the hulls to fall to the ground or onto a tarp. 
 
Remove the hull, compost them, and leave the shells with their kernels (nuts) inside to dry for two days. When the kernel produces a rattling sound, it is ready. Crack the shell and remove the kernel. The kernel should be crisp, not bendable. Nuts can be eaten raw, boiled, or roasted at 350 degrees for about 20-30 minutes until slightly light brown. Use a very strong nut cracker, hammer, or rubber mallet.
 
 
Jujubes


Jujubes (also called Chinese or Red Dates), can be harvested at different stages according to taste preference. When still firm, smooth and green, the fruits have a crisp texture and are more pear-like in flavor and less sweet. More typically, they are harvested later when they’re completely red-brown. Jujubes will continue to ripen on the tree, getting progressively sweeter, softer, and wrinklier and taking on a mildly banana-like flavor.  Harvest time is generally late August to early October. POP’s personal preference is to pick them as they are just turning from green to red-brown, being both crisp and mildly sweet!  

 
 
Pawpaws
 

Pawpaws generally let you know they are ready to eat by falling off the tree, and taste best when harvested fresh from the ground (usually early to mid September). If you’re not in your orchard very often, giving a very light shake to your pawpaw tree will loosen any fruits that are nearly dropped and have them fall. They’ll have a greenish to yellow-brown skin and soft, custard-like, yellow-orange flesh. Bruising and browning of the skin is generally fine, as long as the flesh hasn’t turned brown. Pawpaws don’t have a very long shelf-life, so refrigerating or freezing flesh is recommended!
 
 
 
 
Equipment
One common problem with picking fruit is accessibility. Often fruits in trees are too high to pick from the ground. A fruit picker is a good investment to avoid this problem, as are sturdy A-frame ladders. Fruit pickers are poles with baskets on the end which allow you to pluck off high fruits and capture it in the basket.  POP has partnered with the West Philly Tool Library to make fruit pickers available to borrow from their collection! 

 

Wearable fruit picking bags or buckets allow you to quickly and efficiently store your fruit as it is being picked.

 

Purchase fruit picking bags/buckets:
http://www.wellsandwade.com/pickingbags.html
http://www.wellsandwade.com/pickingbuckets.html

 
 
 
 
This edition of POP TIPS originally prepared by POP intern Tina Kalakay and Orchard Director Robyn Mello.
 
SUPPORT US!  If you found this entry useful, informative, or inspiring, please consider a donation of any size to help POP in planting and supporting community orchards in Philadelphia: phillyorchards.org/donate.