"Mike Lyle" wrote in message
news
On Thu, 1 Sep 2011 19:56:37 +0000, kay
wrote:
[...]

Cox is supposed to be ready for harvest in early to mid Oct, so even in
a good summer beginning of September is a bit early. Its eating season
is late Oct to Jan. I was always brought up with that thing about
rattling the pips to see when it was ripe, but recently there's been
some doubt cast on that.

I usually pick when the tree in question is starting to shed good apples
as windfalls (I ignore the first few windfalls which are usually unripe
fruit which have been attacked by blackbirds). Harry's right with his
implication that not all the apples on the tree are ripe at the same
time, so if your tree is small enough, it's sensible to do the gentle
lifting thing - ie gently lift the apple and it should fall off, without
any need for twisting. Only resort to twisting if you're trying to pick
late apples before the frost, and expecting them to continue ripening in
store.

This leads me to a niggle I've been carrying for years. Are the apples
sold in supermarkets as "Cox's" really Cox's? Even allowing for the
pernicious practice of picking too early and then making into zombies
by chilling, they don't seem quite right. They never get the colour or
the characteristic surface feel (am I inventing this memory?). Could
there be a reason for the use of the simple word "Cox's" instead of
the full honorific "Cox's Orange Pippin"?

--
Mike.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've long had the same question. The Coxs apples we could get locally in
Kent some forty years ago...where have they all gone?