I also go by the smell. I cant say its a bad thing that fruits are appearing a little earlier. I believe it differs from year to year..depending on the heat index. The sun intensifies the fruit sugars and sometimes they ripen quickly. When I was a kid, my grandfather, an avid gardener, had this advice for fruit picking…pick the ones that are ripe and has perfect skin for others, but always eat the one that had fallen to the ground..the ones the worms have burrowed deep are the sweetest fruits. I don’t know if thats true, but the fruits were delicious!