Harvesting Boskop apples: when is the harvest time in 2022?

Winter apples like the Boskop are harvested late in the year. Only then have they reached full maturity and can be kept for a long time. In contrast to summer or autumn apples, however, they only taste best after they have been stored for a while. The Boskop is a tart apple variety that is suitable for many uses. In most cases it is also suitable for allergy sufferers.

More synonyms:

• Beautiful from Boskoop
• boskoop
• Renette von Montfort
• Red boskoop

Harvest time 2022

With winter apples, a distinction is made between ripeness for picking and ripeness for consumption. The Boskop is ready for harvest between the end of September / beginning of October and the end of October. That depends on the exact location and the weather. In 2022, the Boskop harvest may fail completely in some places due to the drought last year. You can check on the tree whether an apple is ready to be harvested. The apple is tilted slightly upwards and rotated. If it detaches itself from the branch, it is ready to be harvested. Another way to tell how big the apples are is to cut an apple in half. If the cores are brown inside, the apple is ripe.

Technology

Equipment necessary for harvesting (depending on the height of the apple tree):

• small or larger ladder
• apple or Long-handled fruit picker
• one basket each for the fallen fruit and the spoiled apples
• Wooden crates for the picked apples
• possibly a wheeled collector to pick up apples from the ground without having to touch them
• It makes sense to have several helpers with larger trees

Instructions

1. Before the Boskop harvest begins, the grass under the tree should be mowed. This can also be done before harvest time so that the fallen fruit can be picked up regularly.

2. Before the fruit is taken from the tree, the fruit is first picked up from the ground. Fallen fruit is collected in baskets separately from rotten apples.

3. The easily accessible apples in the lower area are hand-picked. Every apple that falls to the ground belongs in the basket with the fallen fruit; it would not be suitable for storage because of the bruises. All the remaining apples are stacked in single layers in wooden crates.

4. After the bottom section is harvested, the middle and top sections are harvested with the apple picker. Several apples usually fit in the collection bag, but it still has to be emptied more often so that no apples fall to the side. Using a fruit picker can take some practice.

5. If the length of the apple picker is no longer sufficient, a ladder is used. Use caution when rigging the ladder. In any case, it has to be secure.

Store Boskop apples

In the case of winter apples, correct storage after harvesting is crucial so that they are healthy when they are ready to be eaten. This is at the Boskop between December and March.

1. Sort the apples before storage. Discard any apples that are chipped, rotten, wormy, or otherwise damaged.
2. The storage location should be cool, dark and not too dry. Otherwise the apples will shrivel too quickly. An old natural cellar is best. Frost-free garages and sheds can also be used as storage.
3. There should be no other fruit or vegetables in the warehouse, as apples give off the ripening gas ethylene, which not only makes other fruits ripen faster, but also makes them grow faster spoil.
4. The storage apples are spread out in a single layer either in wooden trays or on wooden boards so that they do not touch. Newspaper works well as a base.
5. The apple storage should be aired regularly in frost-free weather. If the storage location is too dry, bowls of water can be set out.
6. The apples should be checked at least once a week, and all apples that show mold or rot are removed from the store.
7. If stored cheaply, the apples will keep until next spring.

processing of the fallen fruit

While all rotten, moldy or otherwise spoiled fruit goes to the compost, the fallen fruit should be processed quickly. Apples that have fallen from the tree a long time before the actual harvest are almost always wormy. They can still be processed, simply cut out the appropriate areas.

Processing options:

• Juice and then jelly
• applesauce
• jams or chutneys

Learn more about storing fruit