Adam's Apples

Deane, evidently, is one of those apples that can grow quite large. My biggest sample is 12 inches around.  ¶  These are oblate and round with some ribbing. My photograph shows a lopsided lump on this one. They have a streaky red blush over a pale spring green.  ¶  In addition to stripes, there are some irregular spots of saturated red in the lightly blushed regions. Against this variegated background the tiny light lenticel dots, quite numerous, can be difficult to spot, as are the very small regions of entirely harmless flyspeck. Deeming Deane This apple's medium-grained off-white flesh is tender and melting but reasonably crisp. The flavors, well-balanced tilting tart, are a not typical: spicy and a little floral with something, I think, nutty, though I am not sure I am doing it justice. Perhaps a touch of caramel, though not as sweet as that might suggest. There is another fruit element, not prominent, partway between berries and grapes. All this makes a good music together, e

The selection at farmers market still rocks this week, even as a few varieties have aged out.  (Photo:  A beflagged busker performs at the Arlington farmers market earlier today. )  Only two new apples joined the choir this week (italicized in the list below), and a few who were absent last week have returned. It's always a chore getting the band back together.

If I'm posting too much, just wait until the spring.

The name of this pale yellow apple tells us it is a product of the Purdue-Rutgers-Indiana breeding coop, which has brought us such innovate apple varieties such as Pristine and Gold Rush .  ¶  The color of some of these large apples has a touch of green in it. The example in the above photo, on the other hand, is faintly orange in the area facing the camera, the closest thing I find as a blush.  ¶ 

Today's Trent apples are large mediums, slightly oblate with essentially no ribbing. Their streaky red blush is rendered a bit pastel or "dusty rose" by a light smokey bloom.  ¶  Many large light green lenticel dots (small near the calyx end) are visible throughout. They are if anything slightly larger in the less-blushed areas where the underlying green partially shows through the thinner blush.

If you love a tart apple, have I got a deal for you.  ¶  The light pea-green peel of this huge ribbed apple peers out from a partial screen of warm brown russet.  ¶  But my eye is drawn to the small but dramatic patch of red blush, where the tiny white lenticel dots are most prominent (but if you look closely, they are everywhere.)

With seven varieties appearing for the first time this year, and only four retirements (and the return of Wickson), the score at farmers market this week rose to twenty-five different kinds of apples.  (Photo:  An embarrassment of riches at the Belmont, Massachusetts, farmers market earlier today. )  The local markets are just the tip of the apple. As of this writing, Volante Farms, a Needham farm stand, is reporting 23 varieties , including 11 not at farmers market. Shelburne Farms, an orchard in Stow, reports a staggering 38 kinds of apples , some in the store, some on the trees for picking, some both. (Note that things sell out.)