“My way to store fruit to last well into autumn” says Ruth
Ruth explains how to get the best from your fruit crop and prevent it from rotting when it is placed in storage
OUR fairly young fruit trees haven’t produced a glut of produce this year, but they have provided enough to warrant storing.
The same can be said for our assortment of soft fruits,that were used in breakfasts and puddings as they ripened, and then frozen for winter desserts.
Our onions and broad beans also did well – the onions have been dried and hung in the shed, and the beans podded and bagged before being frozen.
Now I want to pick and store our tree fruit, the apples, plums and pears that are (for the most part) ripening
‘Damp fruit will rot quickly in storage’
beautifully. This is what I am looking at on these pages.
However, there is more to harvesting and storing fruit than simply pulling if off the tree and sticking it in a fruit bowl. At the risk of teaching my grandmother to suck eggs, if it isn’t done properly, the fruit will soon rot down into an inedible, mouldy mush. Choose a rain-free day and wait until any dew has dried. Picking and storing damp fruit lessens its shelf life because it becomes more prone to rotting.
Ripe fruit will separate easily from its tree or bush. Lightly hold it in one hand and give it a twist – the fruit should come away from the branch without a struggle. If it fails to do so, it isn’t ready, so leave it a day or two and then try again.
Plums ripen at different speeds on the same tree, so pick them as they are ready to prevent ripe fruits spoiling or being eaten by birds.
Discard fruit that is damaged, but eat or cook pieces that can be salvaged. When you store fruit, make sure it isn’t touching other pieces. Keep the same varieties together as they ripen at different times.
Store it somewhere well ventilated, frost-free, slightly humid and inaccessible to rodents. Also make sure you keep fruit away from strongsmelling substances, be they chemicals or pungent crops such as onions, as they will become tainted.