Assessing a Slow Year

The 2020 harvest, plagued by pandemic and drought, has not been a total bust.

The selection at farmers market has been limited. The Baldwins were not so great this year. However, Cox, Ashmead, and Stayman have been particularly good.

Alas, barring some last-minute discoveries, this is not going to be a big year for new apple reviews.

The core of this blog is my catalog of tasting reviews of (so far) more than 300 apples.

For me, every new variety is a small triumph and cause for celebration.

This fall I encountered Pixie Crunch, Flower of Kent, Pink Luster, and Firecracker for the first time. (I also retasted, and wrote a replacement review for, Autumn Crisp.)

In January, I published some descriptions of apples I'd received in late 2019, and, in May, one I'd been sitting on since 2017.

Still, it feels like a thin year.

Fingers crossed for 2021!

"Lone apple with clouds" is courtesy of Debb Collins, who made the image available under a restricted creative commons license. (The other photos are mine.)