sparky wrote in message ...
Dear All

I wonder if any of you would be kind enough to help me with the following
problem

I have a cox apple tree which crops well I pick the apples when they are
ripe and wrap them individually and store them in the dry

After about 4 - 6 weeks they become a bit spongy

The ones I buy in the shops now are firm & in perfect condition

Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong ?


You're doing nothing wrong. (If you can keep them cool as
well as dry, they might last slightly longer) The ones in the
shops are
stored in special cool stores with controlled levels of
CO2 to prevent ripening. They ripen batches periodically
throughout the year by changing the atmosphere in the
stores. Obviously the Southern hemisphere Coxes are
6 months out of synch with our anyway.

I find that most Coxes from supermarkets taste very little
like real Coxes, but I don't know whether its the growing
conditions or the storage that makes the difference.

Other apples naturally have a different eating season.
http://www.btinternet.com/~treesandfruit/appl.htm

--
Anton