You will shortchange your pruning, mulching, fertilizing, spraying and watering at the last critical minute if you don't harvest your fruit at its peak. Be careful not to pick peaches and nectarines until they develop a yellow background color. The longer they stay on the tree the sweeter they'll become.
That's just the nature of the way peaches ripen: the tree is constantly sending sugar to them as they ripen on the tree. It's why so many people buy peaches from orchard stands and swear they are sweeter than those purchased in a supermarket.
If you pick them green, they'll soften and ripen, and the acid content will decrease. But the sugar content will be no higher than when they were harvested. Don't be fooled into thinking that's true of all fruits, though. The peak of flavor depends on the fruit.
Pears, for instance, have their best texture and flavor if you pick them when they just begin to change from green to yellow. Pears are practically the opposite of peaches: they're best if you let them ripen off the tree. For the best flavor, let pears ripen in an air-conditioned room.
Apples, like peaches, get sweeter as they mature on the tree. If you pick them too early, they'll have more starch and less sugar than you'll probably like. Taste one to see if it's as sweet as you like before picking the rest. If you are going to store them, though, don't let them get too ripe before you pick them.
Blackberries reach their flavor peak then they change from a glossy black to a dull black color.
As for blueberries, they're best when they're picked three to four days after they turn blue.
One of my favorites, muscadines, get sweeter as they mature on the vine. So resist the urge, and don't pick them too early.
Billy Skaggs, Agricultural Agent
Hall County Extension Coordinator
734 East Crescent Drive
Gainesville, GA 30501
Phone:(770)531-6988
Fax: (770)531-3994
Email: [email protected]
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