I have a Liberty apple tree, and the apples I've gotten from it have always been small and not particularly tasty. I figured it was either that I just didn't like the variety or because I neglect the tree. This year it is just loaded with really nice-looking fruit! My kids picked some apples about a month ago, and they just weren't ripe. Ah hah! Whenever I've tasted them before they haven't been ripe. So now I've been experimenting and I've had some *really* good apples! Only problem is that I still can't tell when to pick. I've been checking for any that have dropped on their own--if I check frequently and get one that just dropped, that seems to be good. Occasionally one just falls off into my hand, and that seems to be good. I'm eating one now that just dropped into my hand, and it's a little more tart than I'd like. Of course I like the perfect blend of crunchy (not soft or mealy at all) but sweet.

Any advice on how to tell when to pick? Should I pick some and let them ripen further on the counter? Maybe some individual fruits are just tastier than others?

And it may just be that Liberty is fussy about it's ripening conditions for optimum quality. I've had some that are just unbelievably good and some that just weren't worth the trouble. One of the best ever survived a winter in an unheated garage, covered by its decrepit siblings in a plastic bucket . I'm not sure that they're ever at their very best right off the tree, but on the other hand they don't usually store well ... that's not very user friendly! But the tree has its virtues, too.

Good luck,

M