Evening star., 1942-07-19
Two Reasons for
Raising Fruit in
Home Garden
Time and Methods
For Harvesting
Must Be KnOzvn ...
Laurence and Edna Blair

Bv Laurence ana E0HH Dlu"
The principal reasons for grow
ing fruit in the home garden art
the ability to have the indlvidua
family's favorite kind and the adoeo
pleasure of having each fruit at III
verv best. To be marketed, frul'
must be gathered before 1t Is 1uiiS
ripe and before the volatile Oils or
which its texture and flavor oepeho
are developed completely.
When the home gardener piants
and cares for fruit trees or bushe.
in his own garden, he also shouie
study how and when to harveset the
crops in order to get the most USE
and enjoyment from them and &c
avoid injuring the trees or ousnes
while picking the fruit.
Apples, pears. plums and cherries
should be gathered carefully, as the
fruit producing spurs must not oe
broken off or future harvests Will be
reduced. Most of the tree fruits
retain a green appearance until
ready to be used, when each de-
velops it's individual color and waxy
finish or bloom.
Gather apples by twisting the
stems slightly, not by pulling.
For immediate use, both plums
and cherries may be gathered with
out stems. If the fruit must be kept
for some time, harvest 1t with the
stems attached but do not break
of the spurs.
Never allow pears to ripen COM
pletely on the trees, or they Will lose
favor and begin to decay at the
core. Pick them when the stems
and spurs part easily when the
fruit is lifted upward and outward
To develop full flavor store them at
a mild, even temperature. Handle
late varieties carefully, and store
like apples at temperature just
above freezing.
Peaches to be preserved must be
gathered when the flesh will give
somewhat when pressed by the pad
of the thumb.
For slicing, peaches should be
ripened more fully than for can
ming. and for eating from the hand
they should be softer still. Nectar
ines are handled in the same way
as peaches.
For cooking purposes all the tree
fruits must be ripe but still quite
firm. If dead ripe they lose flavor
when cooked and become mushy IN
texture and quite unsightly.
Grapes must be treated differ
emily than tree fruits. They will not
ripen once they are removed from
the vines and must be left on until
the slowest ripening cluster of ber-
ries Is mature. Unless there Is
danger of frosts, or thefts by birds,
they may be left on the vines until
needed for eating purposes. For
jelly-making. however, include a
few which have not quite ripened,
as these contain more pectin.
Gooseberries and currants are at
their best for desserts when they are
dead ripe, but may be stewed and
canned a month before they reach
this stage. Also, they make the
finest jellies and jams about two
weeks before they become dead
ripe.
Most kind of Strawberries adver-
tise their proper harvesting period
by their color, but some varieties
are light at the tips even when
ripe.
Muskmelons become flat-tasting
and pulpy if allowed to separate
from the vines before harvesting.
Gather them when cracks begin to
show where the fruit is attached
to the stem and allow them to
develop flavor for 3 or 4 days be-
fore using them, with the stem end
turned toward the sun in a glass
covered cold frame or on a window
sill. If a small piece of wood is
placed under a melon 1t will be kept
clean and 1t will ripen more evenly.