Friday, April 25, 2014

Gold Rush: king of the keepers

Half a year after picking, the Gold Rush apple is a fabulous, fabulous keeper.

I liked this apple to begin with, but confess I really did not know what to make of claims like this one from a grower:

We grow and sell hundreds of bushels of Goldrush every year directly to consumers who proudly show us samples of Goldrush they picked at our orchard the year before. (Emphasis added.)

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Apple slicer of the Gods

Do you just wash a whole apple and eat it down to the core?

Me too. But for sharing or tasting parties, or for any cooking where it would be handy to have wedges, an apple slicer and corer is quick, elegant, and indispensable.

Sharp blades slice and core.

Saturday, April 19, 2014

The trees do bud in spring

Before there are apples, there are buds.

Third in a series of studies of one apple-tree branch tip (1) (2), as seen earlier today.

Sunday, April 13, 2014

April Trees

Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote,
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licóur
Of which vertú engendred is the flour

Apple trees perced to the roote yesterday at Hutchins Farm.

Friday, April 11, 2014

Fear of Frankenfruit

Frankenfruit

The largest apple trade group in America is bracing for problems related to genetically modified fruit.

Writing in opposition to the application of Okanagan Specialty Fruits to sell GM apples, the US Apple Association said:

The genetically modified apples in the petition offer questionable commercial benefit yet raise serious marketing questions for virtually all segments of our industry.

...we believe that granting the request for deregulation could lead to significant and unnecessary costs to the industry in the form of labeling and marketing efforts that would be required to differentiate conventional apples from the GE apples.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Apples on the web: cider party on Twitter

Cider is a profoundly social drink that has made a home on the lightest of the social media, Twitter.

You don't need a Twitter account to check out the party.