Adam's Apples

From its sparse striped blush to its lobed ribbing, today's apple is visually distinctive. Riverbelle's red streaks are broken and spread so thinly over the light yellow peel as to appear orange. The apple's tiny lenticel dots are easiest to spot in the unblushed peel, where they are green.

Look. There were 17 kinds of apples at farmers market on Saturday.

I am used to thinking of September as a kind of calm-before-the-storm hiatus of the fall parade of apples. Today however I counted 17 different varieties at farmers market, including Ribston Pippin , Ashmead's Kernel , Wickson , and Westfield Seek-No-Further .

Two modern August apples, crisp and sweet. Zestar (L)—sometimes "Zest Star"—from Minnesota, and Elstar, from the Netherlands. So, it's 'Star vs. 'Star. Which is best?

Not this guy. It's almost fall, so perhaps you are thinking about biting into an apple that has been lying around in storage for the last 12 months. No? This time of year there's a good chance that the McIntoshs or Honeycrisps for sale at your supermarket are from last year's harvest.

I am used to thinking of the early harvest as a sort of wasteland. A niche for a canny apple breeder to fill (though not, if you please, with another Honeycrisp wannabe ). Yet by Labor Day I had already enjoyed 10 fresh local varieties.

This amiable paring came about by accident. The two apples are both ripe in August but are very different. One is a sweet modern apple and the other is probably the best early Mac-style pick.