New years greetings to you

You sent me fruit! Thanks so much for everything.

Twenty thirteen was a good year for apples and for my blog, still going strong long after the conclusion of what was going to be just a single year.

One quality that has accumulated over that time is my gratitude for your readership and comments, often the best thing going here. I've learned a lot from you.

My writing is sometimes hit and sometimes miss, but my best columns are those that spark a conversation.

Last summer I passed 500 blog posts, and sometime in December I reviewed my 200th apple. I had a blowout October, 24 posts fueled in part by an exceptional harvest and a trip that included some apple tourism.

It seems that just when I think I've exhausted my options I find some new orchard or market.

Still it's clear, as it was last year, that things are slowing down. I have less to say in the off season, and it grows harder to find "new" apples (new to me, that is) to write about each harvest.

As Adam's Apples has grown, I've also wrestled with the problem of how to organize things, how tend this orchard of writing.

According to web logs, last year my new rating system was somewhat successful in connecting readers to older content.

My older reviews are still useful and relevant, but every pointer to the old stuff on the front page of this blog adds clutter.

I'm always trying to figure this one out. It's a good project for the winter, a time when farmers traditionally reassess and make plans.

Thank you, good eating, and best wishes for 2014!