Why Some Apples Keep and Others Don't

There is little more disappointing than lifting the lid of an apple box in January to find a row of shrivelled, brown-bottomed fruit. The fault is rarely the storing — it is almost always the choosing. Apples fall into two broad camps: those meant for eating within a fortnight of picking, and the genuine late keepers that will sit contentedly in a cool shed until spring.

Early and mid-season varieties such as Discovery, Worcester Pearmain, Katy and even the much-loved Cox's Orange Pippin are at their best between September and November. Cox will hold for a few weeks in good conditions, but do not expect it to see Christmas. For real winter eating, look to the old keepers: Ashmead's Kernel, D'Arcy Spice, Sturmer Pippin, Annie Elizabeth, Edward VII, Newton Wonder, Lane's Prince Albert, Winston and the ever-dependable Bramley. Russets are especially good at this, their dry skin and dense flesh making them slow to shrivel.

If you are planting, aim for a mix — a couple of early trees for autumn eating and two or three late keepers to carry you through to March. A tree of each ripening group will give you fresh fruit for six months rather than six weeks.

Pick and Prepare with Care

Timing and handling matter enormously. Pick on a dry day, once the morning dew has lifted, and take only fruit that comes away easily with a gentle twist, stalk intact. Never store windfalls, bruised fruit, or anything with a codling moth hole, a wasp nibble or a patch of scab. One damaged apple will sour the whole box.

Handle the fruit as though it were eggs, cupping it in the palm rather than gripping with fingertips, and tip it gently into a padded basket. Do not wash apples before storing — moisture on the skin encourages rot. A wipe with a dry cloth is enough if there is a little dust or dirt.

Sort as you go. Small apples do not keep as long as large ones, so set the little ones aside for eating first. Keep each variety in its own container and label it with the name and the date, because they will ripen at different rates.

• Pick in dry conditions, with the stalk attached
• Reject any fruit with blemishes, bruises or grub damage
• Never wash before storage
• Keep varieties separate and labelled
• Move fruit into the store within a day of picking

Getting the Conditions Right

Apples want to be cool, dark, slightly damp and well ventilated. The ideal range is 2–5°C, above freezing but cold enough to slow ripening almost to a standstill. Aim for 80–90 per cent humidity so the fruit plumps rather than wrinkles, and keep the space dark to discourage sprouting and greening.

A north-facing brick shed, an unheated cellar, a stone outbuilding or a well-insulated garage corner will all do the job. Avoid anywhere with exhaust fumes, paint thinners or paraffin — apples absorb odours remarkably quickly. Kitchens, conservatories and heated utility rooms are far too warm, and they will turn a good keeper soft in a matter of weeks.

Do not store apples alongside potatoes or onions. Apples give off ethylene gas, which makes potatoes sprout and onions go soft, while both impart a musty flavour to the fruit. A separate shelf, or better still a separate shed, is well worth the trouble.

Traditional Ways to Store Fruit

Our grandparents had this sorted, and their methods still work beautifully.

• Slatted shelves or wooden trays: lay fruit in a single layer, not touching, with good air movement around each apple.
• Wrapped in newspaper or tissue: wrap each apple individually and pack in a single layer in a cardboard box with a few ventilation holes punched in the sides. The wrapping stops any rot spreading from fruit to fruit.
• Straw-lined boxes or crates: a layer of clean, dry straw, then a layer of apples, repeated no more than three deep.
• A traditional clamp: for really late keepers, a straw-lined mound outdoors, covered with more straw and a little soil, keeps fruit in excellent condition well into spring, provided you can protect it from mice.

Whichever method you choose, keep the containers off a bare concrete floor if you can — a pallet or a couple of battens underneath prevents damp and cold seeping upward, and it makes the store far less appealing to rodents.

Checking and Sorting Through Winter

This is the step most people skip, and it is the one that decides whether you eat apples in February or tip them onto the compost in December. Look through your store every week or fortnight, tipping each tray out gently and running the fruit through your hands.

Brown rot spreads with alarming speed, and a single affected apple releases ethylene that speeds up ripening in everything around it. Lift out any fruit that is soft, wrinkled, discoloured, or gives off a sweet, fermented scent — and take its immediate neighbours with it. Keep a bowl in the kitchen for these "use first" apples and deal with them within a day or two.

• Check weekly in mild, damp weather, fortnightly in a cold snap
• Remove any fruit showing brown patches, blue mould or softening
• Take out the neighbours of any rotten apple as well
• Never leave spoiled fruit in the store "to sort later"

Keeping the Harvest Going

Work through your varieties in order. The lighter keepers go first, then the russets, and the toughest old cookers last of all. Eat the smaller fruit before the larger, and the ones you have already handled during inspections before those still untouched at the back.

When apples begin to soften or turn slightly mealy, do not throw them out — they are perfect for baking, apple sauce, chutney, drying in rings, or pressing for juice. A small notebook kept in the shed, with a line on how each variety performed, is one of the most useful tools a smallholder can own. Within a couple of seasons you will know exactly which trees earn their space, and the phrase "we are still eating our own apples in March" will roll off the tongue very pleasantly indeed.