Adam's Apples

Apples ripening at Nagog Hill Orchard earlier today.

The first of these luminous beauties had been off the tree too long. The second was picked too soon. But the third was just right. Yellow Transparent, an heirloom from Russia, is small with a pale yellow skin and green lenticels. These are slightly conical and slightly ribbed. Most of my tasting samples had a very faint pink tinge on the sun-kissed side. The overripe one (shown) bruised very easily.

My impulse to post a monthly guide to apples then in season seemed brilliant in October, a bit desperate in June, but the year is now complete. You can look them up by month here (or just see them all at once ).

In the two years (to the day!) since I started Adam's Apples, I've had fun, learned a lot, met some people in the apple world, and enjoyed some wonderful fruit. To most, this web site is a catalog. That's how I'd originally conceived it. Some of you follow it in true blog style, checking up on the latest: I clink apples with you. For me, this blog has also been a journey of growing appreciation and knowledge of apples. Read more »

Every year brings new discoveries. Here are five "bests" that I enjoyed for the first time last year. Not best-ever, but best "new" tastes of the year. I look forward to seeing them again.

The first apples have come early this year. The wonderful fresh Vista Bella apples (right) usually come in the third or fourth week of July, though since the growing season is so early this year I thought we might see them sooner. I was completely surprised however to see Lodi (left) at the Arlington's Farmers Market today. If Lodi they be--I scarcely recognize them. Their shape and size and color is not what I expect. They are usually small but today tower over the Vista Bella.

Here's what you do: Get a couple of half-gallons of sweet apple cider in season, from an orchard that presses its own. Put one of 'em in the back of your freezer and forget about it. The plastic jug will swell and, chances are, stuff will melt and re-freeze over it. Don't worry, it's still good. Wait until a summer heat wave and thaw.

Researchers at Purdue university have discovered a giant Gala, a sport of the variety that is 15% larger than normal. The fruits, dubbed Grand Gala by Peter Hirst and Anish Malladi, weigh 38% more. As reported in Science Daily, Larger apples tend to have more cells than their smaller counterparts, so Hirst theorized that there was a gene or genes that kept cell division turned on in Grand Gala. Instead, he found that Grand Gala had about the same number of cells as a regular Gala, but those cells were larger. Maladi and Hirst's original research, published in last month's Journal of Experimental Botany, is available online, at least temporarily. This has nothing to do with the menacing reports of Honeycrisps as big as small pumpkins in the Boston Globe last year. Hirst predicted that Grand Galas would not be developed commercially because they are "slightly lopsided." Too bad, I'd like to try one.

In my part of the world, the answer to this is blindingly simple. Vista Bella In July, buy whatever you can, if it's local. And rejoice. Usually, the first apples that are ready to eat here are Vista Bellas. Last year we had some Jersey Macs for sale on July 15. They were unripe but I found I preferred them that way. This year, when the growing season has been so crazy, who knows? Early apples do not keep, so buy them in small batches and eat them quickly. You can also read my look back at July.