Adam's Apples

Flushed with the success of my last odd-couple comparison, I again explore a match between two unlikely partners. Lady Alice began as a chance seedling while tiny Wickson is the product of an inspired breeding cross. Nonetheless the two varieties overlap in color, texture, and taste to suggest the possibility of an amiable pairing. In particular, Alice has an unusual malt note and the same “nibble it down to the core” quality I found in Wickson. Lady Alice is an attractive medium-sized apple, slightly ribbed, with a streaky blush over yellow tinted with a little green. The lenticels are large and evenly spaced. Wickson's blush is a deeper cherry red, but similar, over a similar yellow and, like Lady Alice, with some translucent wash and darker saturated streaks. Tiny Wickson's shape is also similar, with a little ribbing...

Earlier today at Nagog Hill Farm, Littleton, Massachusetts.

I had wondered if the red dots on the Seal of the Town of Hubbardston (Massachusetts) might, perhaps be apples. They are. A closer look shows not only the unmistakable profile of apples but also the words "Hubard·ston" and "None·such" arranged around the left and right fruits respectively in careful tiny lettering. (The more-detailed, though uncolored, copy of the seal is from the cover of the Hubbardston Town Bylaws. )

I don't just provide links to apple resources you might like. For better or worse, I blog about them too. Some of these online resources are not straightforward. My write-ups explain what is there and might link to some content buried deep within. Read more »

This is a sport of Golden Delicious, and very like. But as you can see, these don't really look much like the Golden Delicious you'll find year-round in your supermarket. This one has a distinct blush, for goodness sakes, rosy orange over skin that is more green than yellow. There's some russet and fly speck too. The lenticels are dark green, light green in the blush. True, it is conical, tapered, and ribbed, like the G Delish we all know, but so are many varieties. In any case, Golden Delicious deserves a repeat performance.

June is when memories of last year's harvest season bend into anticipation of the next. But though the mental storehouse is richly stocked, the actual cupboard is nearly bare. Continue to look south this month as the later part of the Fall harvest arrives from Chile and New Zealand and thereabouts. The traditional vinous Northeastern varieties, Empire and McIntosh, have become attenuated shadows of their true selves. I've been especially enjoying some Chilean Granny Smiths that can't be too long off the tree. When these are good they are very good indeed. Last June we had the pleasure of Autumn Greetings from Argentina; we'll see if they return. But mostly, in June memory looms large.