Dan Neuteboom featured in the magazine The Fruit Grower

Dan Neuteboom from Suffolk Fruit & Trees was featured in the September 2015 issue of The Fruit Grower. The article describes his 12-month test of an ethylene filter designed specifically for smaller-scale fruit growers. When fruit is put into store, it is alive, and so it carries on its metabolism though at a slower rate due to the cool temperature. Apples and pears produce ethylene as they ripen, and this changes the fruit colour and gradually makes it softer. So an ethylene filter such as that by Fresh Pod, tested in the trial, helps fruit in store keep better and for longer, without losing flavour or firmness. Here is the original article:

In the article, Dan provides advice for those growers wishing to use the filter. Some of his tips can be followed by anyone who wants to store some fruit from a garden apple or pear tree:

• Store fruit that is slightly under-ripe to maintain fruit firmness
• Pick fruit for storage when it is cool, so early in the morning
• Only store undamaged fruit
• Remove fruit showing signs of rot
• Ideal storage temperature is 3-4°C

Below, the photo published in the article:

For further information on the magazine The Fruit Grower, see www.actpub.co.uk

Weekly update for the fruit garden – first week of October

It is now getting close to picking time for late varieties such as Tydeman’s Late Orange, Winter Wonder, Suntan, Crawley Beauty, Court Pendu Plat, Winston, Newton Wonder, Jonagold, Laxton Superb, Lord Derby and Lane Prince Albert. Always treat late storage apples with the respect they deserve. That means storing them in single layers, in the coolest room or in the cellar in the dark. The closer the fruit is kept to 4 degrees Celsius, the longer the shelf life. Look at the fruit once a fortnight and remove any rotten apples.

You can also hang the fruit in slices on a piece of string, out to dry. This of course needs to be done in a warm and dark cupboard. This was often done during the Second World War, in order to have some fresh dried fruit during the cold winter months.

Don’t forget to put the grease bands on the trunks of the trees. Garden centres stock those items.

It is still not too late to spray trees with winter wash to stop nasty fungi developing during the winter months. This applies particularly applies to plums, greengages and cherry trees while still in leaf.

Laxton Superb, image courtesy Eivind Kvamme/flickr.com

Top ten tips on apple storage

PaulaRed, photo courtesy of Lewis Farm Market/flickr.com

It has been a wonderful year for fruits to grow and mature. Above average temperatures during the early part of the growing season and plenty of moisture contributed to producing good-sized, flavoursome fruits. Apples are the easiest fruit to store. Pears can be stored successfully but only if you are able to keep the temperature as close as you can to 1 degree Celsius. Apples store well at 3 degrees Celsius. Plums, greengages, peaches and apricots are best ripened off in the kitchen and used for daily consumption or bottling.

Read more about harvesting and storing fruit here.

 

Tips on storing apples
This time of the year, remember the following if you want to store some apples for the winter months:
1) Only store fruits without holes, cracks or small patches of discoloured brown rot.
2) Pick very carefully. Handle the fruits like eggs. Bruising the fruit is as bad as a hole in the fruit.
3) Do not store over-mature fruit. These fruits won’t keep.
4) Colourless immature fruit from the centre of the tree tends to shrivel once in store.
5) The taste of the fruit must be fully developed, before it is ready to pick. Always taste the fruit first before you pick it.
6) Put the fruit on single-layer trays.
7) Keep the temperature ideally at an even level and as close as you can to 3 degrees Celsius.
8) Fruit stores best in the dark and at high humidity.
9) Make sure mice are not present where you store your fruit as they will nibble the fruit and destroy your harvest.
10) Inspect your fruit once a week and remove those fruits which ripen first and are ready to eat.