Slightly green works for me, and remember, color isn't the only indicator of "ripe" - if they're falling off the branch at a touch they are ripe for our purposes.

Like a roast that continues cooking after it's removed from the oven fruit continues ripening after picking. "Dead ripe" apricots are on the verge of being mushy. Yes, they may pick up a little more sugar but it comes at a price.

Keep in mind that slightly under-ripe stone fruit is easier to make jam with because it has more pectin than does fully ripe fruit.

Frankly, I'm jealous- I've killed off three or four apricot trees and am working on killing off the next one.

:-)M

I've been impressed by how hardy the tree is even though it struggles to actually set fruit. When we bought the place there were 3 peaches, 3 figs, several grapes and a large mulberry in one city backyard 25x40. The place had been let to run wild and looked like the Mekong Delta with head high weeds and grapes climbing the trees, complete with hordes of mosquitoes! We took out the mulberry and had the trees pruned almost back to trunks. They came back vigorously, I have to really hack at the peaches every 2 years, and think I've learned something about them, most of my previous experience with fruit was grapes & kiwis. I also don't spray them at all, like most of my gardens. Harvesting the peaches is tough too, so many end up on the ground, and the tenants of the place aren't fond of that. It's sad, they have have peaches, figs and grapes in their yard and won't eat them!