Adam's Apples

A passing mention of this blog on the website of an obscure tech company has led to some very welcome attention. (Hi everyone! Check me out !) Alas, it has also brought comment spam in force. For the time being, I am moderating all comments here.

A cool spring has left the trees wearing their party finery as late as today. (Carlson Orchard, Harvard Massachusetts)

There's really no rationale for comparing these two sturdy varieties except that I am apt to turn to them to brighten up the apple-bleak springtime. Though the two apples were developed in New Zealand, today's samples grew in the U.S., almost certainly in Washington state. In better times fresh versions of these apples harvested in the southern hemisphere in March or April would be entering American supermarkets.

The kernels are ready to pop at Nagog Hill Farm yesterday.

A really good apple I sampled back in 2015 is finally seeing the light of day here. On the small side of medium, this attractive yellow apple sports a partial orange-bronze blush on the sunward side. It has many tiny lenticels, some quite dark, but the most striking feature are several small round splotches of saturated red, like drops of paint. There is some of this in both blushed and unblushed regions, and some of the lenticels are similarly colored.