June Drop

Excess fruit on the ground - perfect for the squirrels! 

Despite a very warm, dry spring and summer it looks like a good apple drop this year - particularly the Pitmaston Pineapple. 

At this time of year you see lots of tiny apples (and pears) on the ground. The first time you see it, it's disconcerting, but it's actually the tree jettisoning excess fruit. 

You can carry this on further by thinning some fruits yourself. The trees cannot possibly ripen all of its fruit to full size, so better to thin judiciously now. 

Start by looking at the clusters of fruit on the branches, removing the smallest of the cluster, then any that are shaded. Finally, remove any fruits that are damaged or misshapen.  

It's the seeds and pips that take up all the nutrients. The fruits are just sugar and water. You'll get the same weight of harvest - just larger, fully ripened fruits in lesser numbers. 

Most years there is far more fruit than we can eat, so better to concentrate on quality rather than quantity.

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