Adam's Apples

Recap: Last month I invited you to spot the ringer in this group of four apples from Indiana farmer David Doud.  ¶  The quartet consists of three new apples from the Midwest Apple Improvement Association and one apple that is more than 100 years old.

These large apples, oblate and wide, wear a striped red blush over the usual green-inflected yellow. On some examples the green is more pronounced than on others.  ¶  The blush includes saturated streaks, and lenticels that are more tactile than visual: tiny raised bumps.

  A civic-minded Macoun

These apples are large, classically shaped, and slightly ribbed. The partial orange blush, streaky in spots, is over green-yellow, accented with light lenticels.  ¶  They are fragrant, and some have a little russet in their stem wells.

A TRICK, OR A TREAT? Imagine my surprise at seeing a russet apple among those from the Midwest Apple Improvement Association . M AIA is a modern-day breeding program that develops varieties with commercial potential.  ¶  One can say (I would!) that an aromatic russet variety should command market share. Nonetheless, promoting one in today's environment would be a bold move indeed. But not so fast.

Today we have a large oblate apple, its yellow ribs blending gently with the spring-green valleys between.  ¶  It wears a swath of coppery russet like a bicorn hat radiating from the well where sits a short stubby stem.  ¶  There are crackles of russet on one side, some darker green streaks, and dark grey lenticel dots across the field. There's a smattering of harmless flyspeck (which has nothing to do with flies) as well.