Adam's Apples

Notwithstanding my cheerful posts about the many apples you can still buy in January : In any given year there will be some varieties that are not available. Alas. This year, for instance, Macoun is scarce and often disappointing if available. These grow in the Northeast, which had an uneven harvest this fall. Last year this great apple was good to eat (and available) through late March.

Back in January of 2010 I found 16 different kinds of apples for sale in markets within 2 miles of my house. Piñata (L) and Ambrosia These included Piñata , then making its New England debut, and Ambrosia , which had done so the winter before. Since then, growing sophistication about food in general and apples in particular has lured more choices into January markets. Some are new and others very old.

Only one orchard in the world grows this apple. Chipper, named for an  owner of the Locust Grove Fruit Farm , has a pedestrian appearance: Medium to large, slight ribbed and slightly conical, with a dull red blush of varying saturation that covers about half the pale-yellow green peel. Although I bought this apple in late December, it is still reasonably firm, with a sweet cider aroma. Its calyx is open.

A bag of tiny organic Crimson Golds from my supermarket. 'Tis the season, apparently, for apples sold in bags. In addition to the above Crimson Golds, my local supermarket is also selling bags of Junami apples.

Black Twig, at last Somehow when I reviewed Black Twig in 2008 I managed to lose my photo of the apple. Deleted it or something.

Why blog about apples? My original purpose, broadly, was to see what happens if I do. The same curiosity animated my latest experiment, tracking all the apples I ate in 2014. "If I do:" Here's what happened when I did.

Spigold and Lady mark the changing of the guard. Warm new year's wishes to all of my readers.