After careful years of cultivation, your trees are ready for harvest! The ripe fruit is easier to spot in some trees than others. To help you along the way, we created a helpful guide to knowing when to harvest and how to harvest. Keep in mind that ripe fruits are often well-colored and easily plucked with little resistance. The ground color (or the color of the fruit’s skin, disregarding any red areas) is often a good way to determine whether the fruit is ready to be harvested.
To determine your specific variety's ripening dates, please contact your local Giving Grove affiliate for a ripening calendar. If you would like to see information like this in your inbox, consider subscribing to The Serving, The Giving Grove’s quarterly newsletter.
Apples
Most varieties ripen in shades of red, yellow, or russet. The coloration does not always indicate the fruit is fully ripe, so be sure to check the ground color (or the color of the fruit’s skin, disregarding any red areas) and taste a sample before harvesting. The skin should be thin, the fruit crisp and juicy, and it should be non-astringent.
Color isn’t the only indicator of ripeness. Always taste a sample!
The jujube is a delightful, date-like fruit.
Jujubes
Jujubes will ripen from light green to reddish-brown color and be crisp and sweet when mature and ready to pick. Fruits will ripen over several weeks on a single tree. Shaking a tree will cause ripe fruits to fall. Smaller fruited varieties, like Lang and Coco, can ripen and dry on the tree. Larger varieties, like Li, should be harvested when ½-fully colored. Refrigerate until ready to prepare
Asian Pears
Asian pears are ready to pick and eat as soon as their color changes to shades of brown, russet, or gold and are no longer green. The fruit will still be firm when picked and will detach easily from the tree. Fruits will be thin-skinned, juicy, with sweet and tart notes. Should be refrigerated immediately after harvest to retain firmness. Pictured is Yoinashi Asian Pear on left, Chojuro on right. (Pictured as ripe.)
Asian pears are ready to be picked as soon as they are no longer green.
Figs
Figs are ripe when the fruit is purple, brown, or yellow with no green.
Figs should be left to ripen on the tree. Different varieties ripen to shades of purple, brown, or yellow and are not yet ready if they are still green. When ripe, the neck of the fruit will soften and bend, and the fruit will hang downward. It is best to pick the fruit with 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. Figs can continue to ripen after a frost, but cannot handle a hard freeze.
Peaches ready for picking may appear in shades between yellow and red with no green on the skin.
Peaches
Depending on the variety, a ready-to-pick peach may appear any shade between yellow and red, with no green on the skin. We recommend harvesting slightly early and letting the fruits ripen indoors (in refrigeration or room temperature) to save the fruit from hungry critters like squirrels, raccoons, or birds.
European Pears
Pears should be harvested before they are fully ripe and the fruit is a yellow-green color.
Pears should be harvested before they are fully ripe on the tree. When ready to harvest, the fruit will be firm and detach from bud when tilted up to a horizontal position. Harvest European pears when the color of the fruit changes from a deep green to yellow-green. Also, the small spots (or lenticels) on the fruit surface change from white to brown. Allow to fully ripen in refrigeration for long term storage. Do not pick all fruits at once; the outer fruits, as well as the fruit on the south-facing side of tree, typically ripen first.
Tips for Picking Fruit:
HOW TO PICK FRUIT:
Hold fruit in hand.
Gently twist fruit to a horizontal position. Do not pull down on fruit!
DO NOT SHAKE TREE. Fallen fruit causes bruising.
Cool fruit immediately after harvest for best storage potential.
WHAT TO DO WITH FALLEN FRUIT: Fallen, but unblemished fruit should be separated. This fruit is okay to process and can be eaten if fresh. Do not store fallen fruit for the long term.
FREQUENCY OF HARVEST: Fruit will ripen on the tree from the outside in. Check back every few days for ripe fruit to harvest.
