How do I tell when my many heritage varities of apples are ripe? Many of
them have been
falling for weeks, despite ripening times listed in refererence books as late
September/October. Now, I know diseased apples will fall off early, and
presumably these
ones falling does not indicate ripeness. When clean apples started to fall,
I collected several
and cut them open to look at the seed colour - the seeds were still pale.
Does this mean they
still aren't ripe? (Can one use the seed colour as an indicator?) Last year
I tried doing starch
indicator testing, but there are no charts for heritage varieties, so I
really had no idea what I
was looking for. How about simply, "If they come away cleanly when lifted,
with a slight
twist"?
David Maxwell, Nova Scotia, Zone 5a (Canada)
(Are the zones in Canada and the States the same??)
[NAFEX] When are my apples ripe?,
David . Maxwell, 09/04/2008