If you love fresh apples, now is the time to begin picking them. I thought I would give you some ideas of what to look for and how to handle them. First of all, always select apples that are firm, that have a clean skin and are free from bruises. Fresh native apples come in so many colors, it hard to determine when they are ready for picking by their color while on the tree. When you go apple picking always ask the farmer what types of apples are ready for picking that day. My wife and her sister and I go apple picking every year and  we ask the farmer for his help and he gives us several additional tips.

Pick one apple from the row of apples you select and taste the variety you want to pick to see if the taste is what you want. We picked 7 different varieties of apples so I won't have to see the doctor for at least a week now--and I did eat most of the sample apples I picked that day. Next he told us to pick the apples on the tips of the branches first, as apples ripen from the outside of the tree towards the center. Now grab the apple with one hand and twist the apple off the branch by rolling the apple upwards of the branch and give it a good twist. Don't pull down on the apple or you will break part of the branch containing next year's flower buds, so the tree will be damaged and have less fruit on it.

If two apples are growing together side by side, twist them in different directions and they will come off very easily. Do not climb on the tree, as this time of the year the branches are full of fruit and you will damage the branches with your weight. You could also fall from the tree--and that will not be fun, either. Never shake the branches of the tree, because you could damage the tree and many of the apples will fall to the ground and spoil. Nobody wants apples on the ground, right? Apples with a stem on them will keep longer when in storage so, twist--don't pull. And one last thing--place the apples in your bag; don't drop or throw them into your bag, as bruised apples will go bad faster.

When you get home, place the apples in a cool place like your basement or garage and they will keep longer. Warm rooms will make apples ripen faster and they will also spoil quicker, so keep them cool. Do not wash them until you're ready to eat or cook with them, as they have a protective coating on them that washing will remove. If you're storing your apples for winter use with squash, turnip, beets, and carrots, they will do very well together but keep potatoes away.

All vegetables give off ethylene gas while in storage but potatoes more so, and it will force the apples to go bad faster. Never keep apples near a flower arrangement because the gas they produce will put the flowers to sleep. My first year in college I took a floral design course and my college roommate put his lunch in the cooler with the flowers, unknown to my teacher. He forgot his lunch that contained an apple in the bag over the weekend, and on Monday when we went back to class most of the flowers had begun to go bad; no lunches ever went into the flower cooler again after that.

Here is a question for you: are apples apples and good for both eating and cooking? Actually, apples are broken down into 3 categories; eating, cooking and all-purpose apples. Eating apples typically have more sugar in them; they are larger in size, and the skin is thinner, softer, and easier to digest. They also do not store as well or as long in your basement.

Cooking apples have less sugar in them, they have more of a tart taste, they store well in your basement--and for a much longer time--they have a thick and strong skin to help hold moisture in them and the flesh of the apple is less likely to get soft when cooking. Nobody likes a mushy apple pie!

All-purpose apples are good for both fresh eating and cooking/baking. Use early apples for cooking while still firm or they will not hold up. Here is what I picked last week and why.

Cortland: An all-purpose apple with good red coloration. They have a crispy, juicy, sweet and tart taste to them, are a good firm apple for cooking apple pies, desserts, fresh eating, long keeping in the basement, and great in tossed salads or with mixed fruit because they do not turn brown quickly like many apples.

Crispen: An all-purpose apple with great golden yellow skin, super crispy, very juicy, very sweet and refreshing to eat when fresh picked, great for cooking, baking and roasting in the oven, long keeper in cool basement, great for salads, used for cider and the best apple for hard ciders.

Gala: An all-purpose apple with a wonderful bright rosy- red skin with many lines and shades of red on the skin, just beautiful to look at, firm, very sweet, crisp with a good snap to it, very juicy when eaten fresh--so have a napkin when eating it. The size of the apple is small--great for young children with no waste; also great for pies and pastries.

Ginger Gold: An all-purpose apple with beautiful deep gold skin, great for fresh eating, wonderful for pies and pastries, it does not keep well, so use it up and mix other types of apples in pies for wonderful flavor; it does also have a hint of spice to its taste, unusual and great with white wine and cheese during September. Keep refrigerated until you eat them. These may be hard to find.

Honey Crisp: An all-purpose apple, the skin of the apple is filled with gold and red blotches and it looks delicious, a well-balanced sweet and tart taste to it, crisp, juicy, great for cooking all types of pastries, keeps well in a cool basement, great fresh eating apple with a glass of white wine and cheese, salads.

Macoun: Great eating apple, small to medium in size, great for children, beautiful wine red skin on the apple, nice and crispy, juicy, sweet and tart tasting at the same time, also wonderful for pies and baking, keeps well in a cool basement, great with other fruits in a fruit salad.

Northern Spy: A very large apple, crispy almost hard, beautiful red and yellow streaking skin, all-purpose apple great for fresh eating, wonderful for pies and pastries and stays firm when cooked, juicy, sweet and tart flavor, the best winter keeper apple for a cool basement, easy to peel, late to ripen

Now go apple picking this weekend while the weather is good, buy some apple cider, pumpkins, Indian corn and a bunch of corn stalks to decorate the front of your home. Celebrate Johnny Appleseed's birthday this week. After all, if it was not for him, you would be eating plums instead of apples this weekend. Enjoy!!!