harvest

How to Harvest Pomegranate Before You Seed Them

Dan Fruits & Vegetables, This Land of Ours

How to harvest Pomegranate before you can seed them.  That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.

harvest
Image by Роман Распутин from Pixabay

If you have your own pomegranate tree, here’s how to harvest your fruits before you can seed them. Pick the fruit when it is fully red and slightly soft to the touch. It takes about six to seven months from flowering until it’s time to pick, so be patient.

As pomegranates ripen, the skin can crack. You’ll want to eat those right away because they don’t store well. Pomegranates don’t ripen off the tree as some other fruits do, so you want to wait until they are completely ripe to pull them.

Cut the pomegranate off using a pair of clippers, rather than pulling or twisting. Cut close to the branch, so the whole stem comes with the fruit.

If you’re getting your fruit at the grocery store, you need to know what to look for. Fruits that have wrinkled skin are drying out inside. Avoid those. Pick a pomegranate that is plump and feels heavy in your hand. It should give slightly but shouldn’t feel soft or mushy. Brown spots can indicate aging or it could be a bruise. Avoid those, as well.

Listen to Cathy Isom’s This Land of Ours program here.

How to Harvest Pomegranate Before You Seed Them