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2025 begins (they're back!)

( Vista Bella Apples for sale in Arlington, Massachusetts, earlier today. ) Not a moment too soon, the 2025 harvest begins.  ¶  Vista Bella is an early apple, a good one. But these are early: VB is at its best closer to the end of the month.  ¶  So these aren't great, except that they are.
Recent posts

Wrinkled Wickson

They are tiny, which perhaps explains how I missed these Wickson apples at the back of my produce drawer.  ¶  They do not have the most hopeful appearance, but I had to try them.  ¶  Verdict: Surprisingly good, though but a shadow of their best.

Three for lazy days of summer

In spring and summer this seasonal blog slows down. I think of apples often, but not all thoughts are worth sharing.  ¶  You might nonetheless enjoy one or all of these three summer reflections while you wait on the harvest.

Gnarly—not

This wrinkled, rubbery apple tastes better than anything in supermarkets this month.  ¶  Click to view up close and personal.  ¶  The texture is not bad either.

Frosting

(Photo: Some of the apple trees at Hutchins Farm earlier this week in Concord, Massachusetts. ) Neither blooms nor frost: these whitened trees are glazed with a spray of kaolin clay , an organic treatment that discourages pests from eating trees and crops.

Ready to rock

(Photo: The apple trees are looking for love at Hutchins Farm yesterday in Concord, Massachusetts. )  So far, so good.

Gallery of promises

Hopeful spring is early days, with months of risk and peril before the harvest.  ¶  Some of these won't make it.  ¶  But it's May, so let's enjoy the beauties of spring and the promises for the fall.