For a very long time, the most popular page on this site was for Mutsu (aka Crispin). Lots of people misspell it as "Mitsu," and I am apparently one of the few who list that as an alternate spelling (though it isn't alternate, it's wrong.)
Those who put "Mitsu apples" into Google found me. Misspellers of the world, untie!
Things have changed. Nowadays the most popular page (after the home page) is for Pink Lady (Cripps Pink), which I only added last May.
That month I also wrote a wordy and (I thought) perhaps unnecessary description of how to eat an apple. Who needs such a thing?
Lo and behold, someone wanders there (usually from Google) at least every day. It's the next-most popular page (with about 4% of the visits, versus 7% for Pink Lady and 16% for the home page). Glad to be of service.
After that, it's Ashmead's Kernel (3%), Lodi (3%), and Williams Pride (2%), followed by other varieties. These are all very good apples that deserve to be better known, and I am pleased that people are learning about them from me. Mutsu isn't even in the top 20; maybe it's a seasonal thing.
Just about nobody reads the welcome, the map, or the mystery.
To my amazement and delight, some of you actually read my apples regularly. You check in periodically, or follow on Google, and a few seem to subscribe via RSS or other feed. May I say, it's very nice to have readers? Thank you, and may your fruit never grow mealy.
Most, however, find their way here via a search engine, overwhelmingly Google. It's not always clear that these folks are looking for what I have to offer.
I especially apologize to those trying to learn about the French imperfect tense and not my experience with Google's online translation service. Sorry! It seemed a good idea at the time.
These introspective posts about the blog are (I know!) killer, but I am coming up on a year of apples, and it's not as though there are a ton of new varieties to write about just now (last week's pleasant surprise notwithstanding).
And I wanted to thank you, dear reader, for the complement you pay me in the form of your time and attention.
Adam
I'm one of your regulars. You're in my feed reader, so I read every post. I love the attention you put into your reviews. I live in proper apple country (the Tamar valley, in south west England) and I'm surrounded by ancient orchards and (hard) cider farms. Lovely! This is just down the river from me: http://www.orangepippin.com/articles/cotehele.aspx
ReplyDeleteAscorbic, thank you. And your description of the Tamar valley makes me want to try a little apple tourism, if only my family would put up with such a thing.
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