Friday, March 8, 2024
Saturday, February 24, 2024
Your comments first!
Sunday, February 11, 2024
Saturday, February 10, 2024
Binary stars of 2023
ubaidhulla adam ¶ |
I've already published my one-star ratings for 2023, and today I award two stars, "worth a journey." ¶
One star is "very good, worth choosing." Most apples are, and I am generous with this rating.
But two stars is a step up, and I am judicious about handing those out. Of the thirty-nine varieties I sampled for the first time in 2023, eight earn the double star.
Sunday, February 4, 2024
A sea of stars
2023 was a banner year for this blog. Apple reviews are the heart of this project, and I was able to publish 39 of them. ¶
That is more than any year except for the first two: 2008 (44) and 2009 (41). ¶
Having so many apples challenges my practice of rating them once a year according to my qualitative system of one to three stars.
Saturday, January 27, 2024
Extinguishing apples, and other videos
Karim Habibi strides through his seedling orchard like a god, casually dispensing death. ¶
This is the part of Keeper's Nursery where Karim plants seeds he hopes will grow into tasty new apple varieties. ¶
Most of them don't make the cut. Off with their heads!
Wednesday, January 17, 2024
Snow balls
Today's weather is brought to you by the lovely, lustrous, and ligneous Arkansas Black. |
Friday, January 12, 2024
Stopped at the border
Above:Apples for sale at the Marche Jean-Talon in Montreal in early September. ¶ |
I spent a week in Quebec in late summer of 2023. ¶
The trip gave me a crack at some new apples, and I got to practice my (not very accomplished) French.
But I also encountered a puzzle: apples everywhere in Canada that are just not grown in the US.
These includeThursday, January 4, 2024
A tip of the new-year's hat to you and your comments
My original thought, in 2008, was to blog about apples for a year, then find something else to do. ¶
I would not have continued after that first year but for the comments I began to get from readers. They are both learned and, for me, validating.
You make this place richer and more interesting.
Changes in browser technology, however, are making it harder to comment, and to know when someone has replied to a comment.
I want to thank readers who share their thoughts here, and try to address those tech issues.
But first,
Monday, January 1, 2024
A year of apples
Saturday, December 30, 2023
Scrumptious
My Scrumptious has a crimson blush with a beautiful dark region that that may reflect time spent on the tree. It is on the small end of medium-sized and very oblate, wider than tall. ¶
That blush is not entirely dark. There is a small yellow patch on one side, surrounded by red and orange streaks.
A crown of russet radiates from the stem well.