Adam's Apples

Adam's Apples' first apple harvest began 7 Julys ago. It was easy. I could count on finding a "new" variety to review every week, usually several. The reviews are still the heart of this blog, though new varieties are harder to come by. Now, on the cusp of my eighth apple crop, I have no big changes in the works, nothing really new up my sleeve for this blog. But I do have some second thoughts about the way I wrote those reviews. And I am planning to make some changes.

White pips are a sign that the apple is not yet ripe. The apple, an early Lodi , was super tart and obviously picked too soon.

And rejoinder videos. Steven Edholm, the polymathic paeleolith from  Turkeysong ("a homestead in the beautiful coastal mountains of Northern California" as well as a blog) took the time to respond to yesterday's video about apple breeding from one of the big commercial breeders in New Zealand. I've edited his remarks lightly; emphasis is added. I noticed a while back how much breeding is the beginning of a line of thinking toward more and more sophisticated marketing. It seems like the trend is a little more skewed toward consumer satisfaction now. I'm not convinced that they always know what consumers will want, given a broad choice [ya think?—Adam.], but apple quality in stores has certainly improved tremendously since I was a kid. As many apples as it seems like they are releasing the entire industrial apple system will never be about diversity, or about really serving human needs or culture in a broader sens...

Apple breeders consider consumer and production "fruit-quality traits" and even global economic strategy.

Today's apple is attractive and big, with red to deep red streaks, sweet, juicy, and crisp. And it's a fraud. That is, it's a Braeburn marketed under another name. And frankly, I've had better Braeburns.