Apple picking tips: what to bring, what to wear, how to pick

The Connecticut Department of Agriculture’s advice for pick-your-own visits is practical: close-toed shoes, weather-appropriate clothes you do not mind getting dirty, a hat and sunscreen.

Call ahead. The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources notes that availability changes from year to year with the weather, and Connecticut’s agriculture department says some farms ask for reservations. Ask which varieties are open, how the farm prices apples (by weight, by the container or by count) and whether you may bring your own containers.

Plan for weight. The USDA handbook of agricultural weights lists a bushel basket of apples at about 40 pounds, so a full bushel is heavy.

Iowa State Extension lists the signs: a mature apple is firm, crisp, juicy and well colored, has the characteristic flavor of its variety, has brown seeds, and releases easily with a gentle upward twist. Red color alone is not a reliable sign; Red Delicious, for example, often turns red before it is mature. An apple picked too early is sour and starchy; one picked too late is soft and mushy.

The University of Minnesota Extension suggests looking at the background color, the part of the skin not covered with red: when it changes from green to greenish-yellow, the apple is starting to ripen. An unripe apple tastes starchy and leaves a sticky film on your teeth. Minnesota also notes that apples ripen and sweeten without needing a frost.

When in doubt, taste one. Iowa State notes that the apples on a tree are generally at a similar stage of maturity.

Iowa State Extension’s method: grasp the apple in the palm of your hand and roll it back so it releases with the stem attached. Yanking can tear the stem out of the fruit, and stemless apples do not store as well. It also pulls fruiting spurs off the tree, which reduces the next years’ crops; if an apple comes off with a leaf attached, you have probably damaged the spur.

Place apples in the bucket rather than dropping them, and avoid squeezing, since bruised apples do not store well. Leave fruit on the ground alone: Iowa State says apples collected from the ground should never be mixed with apples picked from the tree, because they can bring contamination.

Follow the farm’s rules on ladders and climbing. Extension guidance for growers calls ladders in tree crops especially dangerous and advises farms to post clear rules about picking and climbing.

Each variety has its own window. Iowa State notes that early varieties such as Pristine ripen in late summer, while GoldRush, Enterprise and many heirlooms may not be ready until late October. The Virginia Department of Agriculture publishes the month each popular variety is typically available at Virginia orchards:

These are the harvest months published by each state’s agriculture department or land-grant Extension service. Weather shifts them by a week or more each year.

Sort as soon as you get home. Iowa State Extension says to use bruised or cut apples first (they suit cider, sauce or baking once the damage is cut out) and to use the largest apples first, because they do not store as well as smaller ones. Injured fruit gives off ethylene, a ripening gas that speeds up the fruit around it.

Store the sound apples cold and humid: Iowa State gives 32 to 40°F with 90 to 95 percent relative humidity as the best conditions, and notes that apples kept at 50°F spoil two to three times faster than those kept at 32°F. Small quantities keep well in perforated plastic bags in the refrigerator, which hold humidity without trapping moisture. Apples freeze below about 30°F, so do not leave them in an unheated garage in hard cold.