North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Ginda Fisher <list@ginda.us>]

On Aug 20, 2005, at 12:19 AM, Charles Paradise wrote:

> Doreen Howard wrote:
>
>
> > I'm totally
> > new to apple growing and don't even have a clue how to tell when  
> > an apple is
> > ripe.
> > Doreen Howard
>
> Doreen,
> In August-ripening Gala, I used to tell when the Galas were getting  
> ripe because the seeds would turn from white to brown.  Brown told  
> me the apple was ripe.
> Charlie Paradise

Charlie,

If you had enough apples to cut some open just to test ripeness,  
couldn't you just as easily have tasted them to check?

Doreen,

Someone else suggested this, but when I pick apples, I lift the fruit  
gently.  If it falls off into my hand, I assume it's ripe.  If it  
wants to stick to the tree, I assume it isn't.  I'm sure the degree  
of perfectly ripe stem looseness varies from cultivar to cultivar,  
but it works pretty well.

Ginda