You know when people talk about the tomatoes in Italy, and how they can never go back to the UK’s blander, more watery kinds again?
Well, that happened to me last week, when I got some tiny apples from my local farmer’s market ― after all, many species are at their seasonal peak.
The UK is home to more than 2,500 apple varieties, but most of us never try anything other than better-known breeds like Granny Smith or the (sorry ― detestable) Red Delicious.
But if you’ve got heaving boughs heavy with the fruit, or just want to keep some of autumn’s most delicious bounty as fresh and delicious as it currently is in markets and some stores, we’ve got your back.
Whether you’re storing your own backyard bounty or hoarding some seasonal delicacies, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) says that temperature matters.
Betwen three and seven degrees celsius is the sweet spot, meaning “you could be eating your own apples at Christmas” if you keep them in that range, the RHS says. You can keep them in a cellar, garage, or fridge to ensure the conditions are perfect.
However, they add that the fruit won’t respond well to conditions below 2.8°C.
Gardener’s World adds that you should “try to keep the apple stalk intact, as this can help prevent the fruit from rotting”.
The phrase “one rotten apple spoils the whole barrel” is true, too ― if you have a single blemished, bruised or browning apple in among the rest, it’ll create a chain reaction of rot.
You can just cut blemishes out and then cook, eat, or juice the remaining flesh if you’re faced with a damaged apple.
Gardener and TV presenter Monty Don said that if you’re storing a lot of apples, “what you need is something slotted so that you can get air” around the produce.
He uses an old bread rack; you can also purchase apple racks to place in a colder area, like a garage.
Somewhere “cool, dark, and reasonably moist” is ideal, as drying the apples out actually hastens their deterioration.
“The critical thing is they must not touch,” Monty said.
“They’ll probably be better around Christmas-time” than they are when picked at their peak, the gardening pro added, as they do develop flavour over time.
