Whether you want to head off to a pick-your-own farm or are a green fingered genius in the garden, knowing when to plant your fruit and harvest it is important. Local, seasonal fruit tastes so much nicer than imported fruit, and you’ll have eaten your five a day in no time with local fruit being so easy to access.
For those wanting to make the most of seasonality in fruit picking, it’s important to know what fruit to pick and when. This way you can make yummy jams, preserves and even freeze a lot of fruit to make the most of it for the rest of the year!
When is Fruit Picking Season in the UK?
Fruit picking season starts in early June and can end as late as November. In the UK, we start with gooseberries, rhubarb and strawberries in June, and head into peak fruit picking season in July-September with apples, cherries, raspberries, blackberries, plums and blackcurrants. The year then ends with apples and pears in October and November
Why is Picking Fruit Seasonally Important?
The main reason why seasonal fruit picking is so important is because of the environmental impact of air miles and creating artificial growing conditions year-round.
For example, if you want strawberries in January, they’ll have either come from abroad from countries like Morocco or have been grow in the UK under intensely artificial growing conditions that use a lot of power and energy. Either way, fruit out of season has a considerably greater carbon footprint than in-season, UK grown fruit. And, if you’ve picked it yourself, you know exactly where it’s been grown and how far you’ve driven it!
Fruit Picking Season, Broken Down
Remember, where you live in the UK will affect the seasonality. By and large, the further south you are, the earlier you will be able to get fruit, as the weather is warmer sooner down south.
However, the spread isn’t that great from north to south, and you can still get fruit for most of the year.
So what fruit can you pick, when?
Fruit You Can Pick in June
- Cherries
- Elderflower
- Redcurrants
- Blackcurrants
- Gooseberries
- Raspberries
- Rhubarb
- Strawberries
- Tayberries
Fruit You Can Pick in July
- Apricots
- Blackberries
- Blueberries
- Cherries
- Redcurrants
- Blackcurrants
- Gooseberries
- Nectarines
- Peaches
- Raspberries
- Strawberries
Fruit You Can Pick in August
- Apples
- Apricots
- Blackberries
- Blueberries
- Redcurrants
- Blackcurrants
- Nectarines
- Peaches
- Pears
- Plums
- Raspberries
Fruit You Can Pick in September
- Apples
- Blackberries
- Blueberries
- Damsons
- Peaches
- Pears
- Plums
- Raspberries
- Sloe
Fruit You Can Pick in October
- Apples
- Elderberries
- Pears
- Plums
Fruit You Can Pick in November
- Apples
How Do You Know When Fruit is Ripe Enough to Pick?
As a general rule of thumb, fruit is ready to pick when it pulls away easily. If you have to tug hard, or the fruit doesn’t fall away in your hand, then the fruit is not ready yet.
At the other end of the spectrum, fruit that spills juice all over you as soon as you touch it is overripe and is best left for the birds and dormice.
What Fruit Can You Pick in the Wild?
Foraging, or wild fruit picking, is a great activity year-round. In winter you can find seeds and fungi, and as we head into spring, you’ll find wild garlic across the country, and you’ll definitely smell it before you see it!
It does depend on what is growing where you are, although most people can find blackberries, sloe berries and elderflower fairly easily, but wild apples and pears are often harder to come by.
When you find fruit in the wild, it’s best to pick it there and then, as if you leave it until the next day, the birds and beetles will have got it all! However, do make sure you know what you’re picking as a lot of foraged foods have deadly lookalikes. If you don’t know, don’t pick.
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One small glass of V8 (150ml) is equal to one of your five a day, and you can have it year-round, without it going off!
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