Adam's Apples

These Apples are, of course, only a personal labor of love published on that greatest of all vanity presses, the internet. I'm pleasing myself—and creating an opinionated catalog of apple varieties. If I also please you, that pleases me too. I know I have readers by the web logs of this site (no personal data about you, have no fear). If you've wandered here and are surprised or informed or amused, please leave a comment, here or in response to any post.

Today was the last farmers market in Arlington until next summer. Lexington's was yesterday. Many of the same vendors will continue in Cambridge, Somerville, and Boston until Thanksgiving. Davis Square , I'll be there. I took my bicycle out by several orchards over the weekend. Some were closed—picked out, owing in part to the exceptionally nice weather we have had on the weekends this fall. (No doubt my letter to the Boston Globe also had something to do with this.) Most others had their last pick-your-own day on Sunday.

The well-known Golden Delicious lends its even flavor and pomocultural robustness to many offspring varieties, including today's apple. Ozark Gold is a medium-large apple with light yellow skin that has a hint of translucency. My sample shows the gentle mark of the sun, a light rose blush in a few small patches.  Tiny dark lenticels are red inside the blush. Its shape is generally round and more than a little cylindrical. There are a few small patches of tiny black stipples. The whole apple itself has a sweet fragrance.

I waited—oh how I waited—when the first Macoun and McIntosh apples first appeared at the market in late summer. I did not review these New England beauties then because the extra-tart, extra-acidic, not-quite-ripe early apples would not have been representative. You see, I eat to serve. Instead I waited until maturity, tasting McIntosh at the very end of September and Macoun a week or so later.

So why isn't it "Pomme Grise?" A classic, the first of the  russets that I usually see around here, Pomme Gris is good for eating or cider.

I am, alas, nowhere near the Rural Ridge Orchard in North Garden, Virginia. Fortunately that family farm not only grows but also has described many apple varieties at its web site, Vintage Virginia Apples. Rural Ridge offers a lot to tempt both the grower and the enthusiast, including fruit (not just apples, but also peaches, quince, pears, and plums), seedlings, tasting events, and workshops about pomiculture.

Nor is it every apple I desire, Nor that which pleases every palate best; 'T is not the lasting Deuxan I require, Nor yet the red-cheeked Greening I request, Nor that which first beshrewed the name of wife, Nor that whose beauty caused the golden strife: No, no! bring me an apple from the tree of life! Henry David Thoreau Thoreau asked for apples of the spirit, but many sources say that the Blue Pearmain was one of his earthly favorites.

We are now at peak season and the apples are getting wild. The extremely popular McIntosh and Macoun crop is nearly all harvested, though still available (and delicious), and they have no obvious late-season heir. (The Honeycrisps are similarly done.) Instead, many different and colorful apples vie for attention. Today the three growers who sell at Arlington's farmers market are selling Brock, Cameo, Shamrock, Baldwin, Northen Spy, Empire, McIntosh, Fuji, Macoun, Golden Delicious, Splendor , Red Delicious, Pink Lady, Roxbury Russet , Honeycrisp, Blushing Golden, Cortland, Jonagold, and Mutsu. Compare that bounty to the summer or early fall.

Another great name! Though apparently "Jewett Red" may sometimes be preferred. Nodhead is roughly medium sized with pronounced ribs and a blush that runs from streaky (over greenish yellow) to crimson with deep purplish streaks (rather like the coloring of Blue Pearmain).  The blush is accented with many small light lenticels.

Today, gentle reader, step into my laboratory for a tale of science run amok. As related a few years ago in The Fruit Blog, two years before the accident at Three Mile Island researchers in Ohio decided that a little radiation might create a better Melrose.

When I asked for some Cox's Orange Pippin at Gould Hill Orchard, the staff apologized and offered these.  They are an introduction to a whole different cohort of apples, full flavored, dense, and complex. Also know as Glory of York, this apple's story is summarized in Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable as follows: So called from Ribston, in Yorkshire, where Sir Henry Goodricke planted three pips, sent to him from Rouen, in Normandy. Two pips died, but from the third came all the Ribston apple-trees in England.

Don't you love that name! A real crotchety English apple name. A name for a Hobbit. It says, This apple has been around for a while and if ye don't like them apples then who asked ye? Modern apples have names invented by marketing departments, like Gingergold and Zestar and Honeycrisp. Old apples have names that sound like a Morris dance tune or a craft beer. Hey ho, lad, get me some a that Auld Whistlin' Pete's Pegleg Stout Pearmain.

Gould Hill Apple Orchard, in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, is one of my all-time apple favorites.  The selection of heirloom and other apples for sale around Columbus Day weekend is truly fabulous, including one variety that is exclusive to Gould Hill. Besides the apples, Gould Hill presses its own cider and sells it unpasteurized, and offers sweeping panoramic views. There are no corn mazes or moon bounces or cider donuts, but there is an unusual small nature museum and guided nature trail.

Another ambitious site with lots of apple information, All About Apples seeks to be no less than "the premier internet site for the Apple Industry." (Update: All About Apples merged with Orange Pippin in 2011 and as of 2012 nearly all links to AAA redirect to OP.) Chief attractions here are hundreds of apple descriptions and a geographical catalog of orchards, which invites listings from growers. But there is also a bulletin board, a short list of articles of interest to orchardists, book reviews, and other bells and whistles. Still, All About Apples feels a little like a labor of love that is on hiatus. Except for the bulletin boards, where people post question and, sometimes, answer about apple varieties and pomaculture, there doesn't seem to be any new content on the site since 2008.

Ah, Macoun, lady fair! If McIntosh is the king of the New England apples, then Macoun, with its distinctive bouquet, is surely queen.  ¶  Macoun (pronounced "Ma-cow-an") is medium to medium-large and sports a red blush that runs from deep and purplish to streaky over bright green, freckled with small light tan lenticels. The fruit is ribbed—I've had three-lobed Macouns that boasted a triangular horizontal cross-section—but with considerable variation. The stem is short, which poses some problems for growers.

I had read about Melrouge, a sport of Melrose, but I didn't expect to find any around here. Yet this week they were a few bins down from Melrose at farmers market. This medium-large apple sports a partial crimson blush over yellow-green. Its large lenticels are light tan (greenish where the blush doesn't reach). It is moderately ribbed and firm in the hand. My sample apple has a very deep stem well and what may be two kinds of russet--brown stripes in one area and little black stipples in another.  The apple also has very dark red dimples in the blush, about 5 mm across. All in all, character rather than beauty.

The Botanical Society of America has published this charming poster and, online, an annotated photo essay showing the development of an apple from bud to fruit. Of course the illustrating apple would be the popular McIntosh.

Also known as Stayman Winesap, though the Winesap is a different (and even older) variety. These run medium to large and have a deep red blush that is matte rather than glossy, freckled with light spots. The Stayman I am sampling today is on the large side and is oddly asymmetrical--from one angle its profile describes a rough parallelogram. It sits nice and firm in my hand.

Today on our menu: Melrose. This medium-large apple is firm and well-formed with slight ribbing, a little oblate. Note: The word for the day is lenticel, the name of those tiny freckles that decorate most apple varieties. Melrose's are largish (still small), light against a streaky red blush that covers green-yellow.

Today's Boston Globe includes my letter in response to last week's story about the decline of local orchards: It's sad, and ironic, that local apple growers are losing ground to imports ( "Local apple growers losing ground," Sept. 28). The durable industrial apples from Washington or Chile are welcome in the spring, but why would anyone eat them during apple season in New England? Besides the popular seasonal McIntosh and Macoun apples, many local orchards still grow wonderful heirlooms such as Jonathan, Baldwin, and Opalescent. Some are available nowhere else. October is high season for apples, and there is no better time to visit an orchard, farm stand, or farmers' market to try some of these authentic—and singular—New England treats. The Globe also echoed these sentiments in an editorial praising local apples:

Web searches for apple varieties often find a link to Orange Pippin, an ambitious and impressive web site that is all about apples. The site includes an apple tree registry with the goal of charting "an international map of apple tree varieties;" anyone with a tree is invited to contribute. For lowly apple enthusiasts like me there is an index of apple varieties and descriptions; though some descriptions are short readers are invited to comment and share their own tasting notes (many have).

Full disclosure: Honeycrisp makes my teeth hurt. Lots of people like the sweet juicy guys, though, and you might too. It's a handsome fruit, running medium-to-large, with a streaky red blush over yellow (to yellow-green). There's a little ribbing and some russet in the stem well, and spots that look light tan against the blush and a darker green where there is none. The surface is a little uneven, with minor pocks and swells, but the effect is not unattractive. Let's eat.

Today's Boston Globe strikes a cheerier note than Sunday's economic report: this year's wet weather has produced a great crop of apples. Reporter Jesse Kimler writes, Local orchardists are unanimous that this year's crop is not to be missed. One says the fruit is "bursting with juice." The Globe also published a companion directory of area orchards, and on its web site is hosting a recorded interview (about 7 minutes) in which Northborough grower Mo Tougas (of Tougas Farms ) is enthusiastic about the harvest.

Perhaps the most famous, familiar, and popular of Northeastern apples. Available year-round, though quality varies. Also known as "Mac." They even named a computer after it ( misspelling the name). McIntosh is generally medium-sized and nearly perfectly round, though some show a little ribbing. Its attractive crimson blush can be streaky and is accented with light spots that are larger than most.