A FRIEND of mine has kindly been giving me great bags of cooking apples from her heavily cropping tree, which I’ve been cooking and freezing to keep me stocked up on crumble and pie fillings for months to come.

I’m not lucky enough to have an apple tree in my own garden, but for those whose apples are ripening and ready for picking, storage is all-important.

Apples which ripen before the end of September don’t generally store well. You’re better off turning them into puree, juice or cider.

The best keeping apples will happily hang on the trees, to be picked before the first hard frost hits them in October.

There are a number of ways to store apples successfully, and it doesn’t have to cost a fortune.

Some gardening retailers sell expensive, traditional-looking racking systems made of wood which keep the fruit fresh and dry, allowing plenty of air to circulate between layers.

Some gardeners use dead fridges or freezers, as the temperature and humidity within are constant and they are rat and mouse-proof.

However, you do have to cut holes in the door or lid seal to allow some air in.

A simpler method is just to lay the apples in trays on a bed of crumpled or shredded newspaper and keep them in a frost-free, cool dark place which isn’t too dry.

They will also store in loose plastic bags with air holes in them.

Preparing apples for storage may also help their longevity.

You can do this by initially leaving them in a cool, airy place for a couple of days to sweat out any excess moisture and then put them out at night on a chilly but frost-free evening and store them first thing in the morning before they have warmed.

A garage or shed, where the temperature remains constant, is probably the best place to store them. If you don’t have that room, put them in the salad drawer of the fridge. If fruits are carefully picked and are devoid of bruises or blemishes which may cause them to rot, they should last until Christmas.

Good varieties which will keep for ages include Granny Smith, Tydeman’s Late Orange and Brownlees Russet.

Early apples are best eaten off the tree, as they will go pappy in a few days, while mid-season apples are also best eaten as soon as they’ve been picked, although many will keep for weeks if picked just under-ripe and stored in the cool.

Don’t store early varieties with lates, and don’t keep them near pears, onions, garlic or potatoes, as they will cross-taint.

Apples which are individually wrapped in paper keep longer.

Any showing signs of disease or rotting should be immediately removed before it spreads to nearby fruits.

If you want to reduce the risk of disease earlier on in the season, remove crowded, congested and damaged apples from the tree while they are still growing. This improves the size and quality of those remaining and prevents biennial bearing, where a tree is stuck in a cycle of producing masses of fruit one year and then missing the next because it’s so exhausted.

Apples should be thinned after the midsummer June drop occurs, and at least twice afterwards.

WHAT TO DO THIS WEEK

● Sow winter lettuces in a vacant greenhouse border.

● Dry off begonia and gloxinia tubers to rest them for the winter.

● Hoe regularly between vegetable rows to keep down weeds.

● Take cuttings of conifers, evergreen trees and shrubs and root them in a propagator.

● Sow sweet peas outdoors in a sheltered spot.

● Prepare the ground for fruit trees and bushes to be planted this autumn and order your chosen varieties now.

● Complete the planting of new strawberry beds.

● Protect the developing curds of cauliflowers by bending a few leaves over them.

● Raise the height of cut on the mower to around 2.5cm (1in) and reduce the frequency of mowing.

● Plant lily bulbs in borders or large pots.