Mapping British orchards

The London-based People's Trust for Endangered Species is mapping its Traditional Orchard Survey, an ongoing project to identify orchards in the United Kingdom.

Another group maps community orchards in England and Scotland.

So you like Granny Smith

This distinctive big green apple is named for the Australian farmer who discovered the variety growing in a trash heap.

Granny's fans are maverick lovers of tart in an ocean of sugary apples. 

In person, the apple bears a good deal of offsetting sweetness alongside its citric tang. Lime, pear, and cane sugar balance together.

Quickies

The six weeks leading up to the start of the harvest feel like they are each a month long.

crackles

To pass the time, can you tell which apple made me ask, "what if you diluted one Cox's Orange Pippin into a peck of Red Delicious?"

Hoople's Antique Gold

What a marvelous name! What do you think it means?

These conical light yellow apples are on the large side of small, classically shaped with only a hint of ribs. There's a coppery crown of russet and some brown around the base.

The art of the keeper

Today I get to eat two excellent modern apples ("worth seeking!") that share a particular quality.

Competently managed, they both deliver peak eating in the spring.

Lady Alice, at right, has saturated flavors with wonderful malt notes and a substantial crunch. GoldRush presents pear and banana along with a dash of citrus. 

Cosmos

A darker Cosmic Crisp

Tiny light lenticial dots contrast with the dark red blush of this apple.

The folks at Washington State University looked at it and saw stars: pinpoints in the night sky.

They named the apple "Cosmic Crisp."

However, the blush of the Cosmic Crisps I reviewed in 2019 was not particularly dark.

Apples on the Web: Apples and People

IT STARTS WITH A MAP

My love of apples goes without saying, but I am especially beguiled by their human-facing side: the stories and customs and lore around them, the names we give apples, the magic, history, spirit, and significance they lend us as we endow the same to them.

Those intangibles are the heart of a new website, profoundly English and with an impressive roster of sponsors and funders.

Parable of the banana

Thought experiment: imagine that one vast banana tree is the world's sole supply of the yellow fruit.

Now imagine the tree is dying from an incurable disease.

Actually, with some poetic license, that is the case.

Alice is back

AKA Wild Twist

Some of you have been telling me recently about a new apple, Wild Twist. 

More recently, you said it was just a new trademark for Sweet Cheeks. (I reviewed that apple in 2017.)

Thanks for doing my job for me! I've edited the review with the new name and a note.

Sometimes different harvests or handling deliver fruit of varying quality.  Several readers liked this apple a lot more than I did. 

Surprise keeper

I find that most keepers, or winter apples, hale from the later part of the harvest. But there are many exceptions.

One of these is Melrose. I discovered this apple's winter virtue a year ago by virtue of poor organization of my apple hoard. 

Then, several Melrouge (a sport of Melrose) lurked in the back of my refrigerator. They proved good.

This past fall I made a point of buying some for a midwinter bonus.