When to harvest?

[LlamaofDrama]

I have a "Butterball" crab apple tree which we planted this year for me to make jelly. Can anyone tell me when the apples are ripe and ready to harvest? They are a real golden yellow at the moment, I think I need to leave them a bit longer but DH is getting twitchy (always an issue with the garden!)

TIA

I'd wait a bit longer unless they are falling off the tree. Crabapples are more likely to stay on the tree in winter so the usual apple wisdom of harvesting them when they fall off into your hand doesn't always apply but they are better after the frosts. The longer you leave them the more flavour they have but they will also be ok picked early, putting them in the freezer for a bit is recommended if you do.

You could pick one, and cut it through to see what colour the pips are. If they're white, the fruit probably isn't ripe yet.