Photo: Ripe Apricots Orchard Trees Central Otago

An orchard of apricot trees near Roxburgh in Central Otago, New Zealand has branches full of ripe apricots reading for harvesting.

The sun in Central Otago shines down upon the orchard on the apricot trees where the ripe fruit clings to the branches waiting to be harvested by the commercial fruit pickers. Apricots have reached maturity when the coloring is an orange yellowish hue with patches of red on some of them, mainly the ones which have been exposed to the direct sunlight. Apricots are an extremely healthy food loaded with Vitamin A and Vitamin C.

Central Otago, located on the South Island of New Zealand, is the country's main producer of a variety of fruit such as apricots, cherries, nectarines, peaches and various types of apples which are harvested during the summer months. Each year, there is an average of 6.6 thousands tons of fruit which is harvested in Central Otago and circulated throughout the South Island keeping commercial fruit pickers extremely busy during the summer months.

Ripe Apricots, Prunus armeniaca, on the trees in an orchard near Roxburgh, Central Otago, South Island, New Zealand.