Friday, December 31, 2021

MAIA test 47

An oblate yellow apple

I got 2 of these possible apples from the Midwest Apple Improvement Association, one picked on September 26 and the other on October 10.

What's "possible" about 47 is that this variety could be selected for further development. Someday, it could get a catchy name and be available in orchards or supermarkets.

In the meantime, these two samples look similar: a yellow apple with green highlights, oblate, with gray lenticels. 

Tuesday, December 28, 2021

MAIA test 37

Conical apple with orange blush over yellow

The blush on this conical apple is a wash of translucent orange, except for one saturated swath of deeper hue. Of course, that is where the light-brown lenticel dots are largest and most obvious.

Ribbing on this variety is negligible, and my sample, hazard du transit, is bruised. The underlying peel is a sunny yellow.

Thursday, December 23, 2021

MAIA test 16

Yellow green apple with a splotchy thin orange blush,

Today's apple is (a) lopsided and (b) huge, with effectively no ribbing (meaning, sure, you can find some if you look closely). 

It has a weak orange-red blush streakily spanning about a third of the peel, which is a very yellow shade of green.

Against this background, the otherwise light brown lenticel dots do not stand out unless filled with greyish matter that might be a kind of russet. 16 has a thick stem, an open calyx, and a satiny finish.

Tuesday, December 21, 2021

MAIA test 14 *

An apple with an orange-red blush

This apple is past its prime, with a bit of give and some small wrinkles on one side.

Nonetheless, my approach is to taste first and hope for a better sample next year.

There may not be a next year for this apple, as it is under development by the Midwest Apple Improvement Assiciation and is not guaranteed to make the cut.

But if "test 14" does make it into an orchard near you (with a catchier name), then you read about it here first.

Saturday, December 18, 2021

MAIA test 84

This apple has Applewith a red blush that nearly covers yellow

This unnamed apple is large and oblate, with a red blush that nearly covers all the underlying yellow.

Striking tan lenticels jump out, while the merist of ribbing is only noticeable on close inspection.

Wednesday, December 15, 2021

Bakers Delight *

A yellow apple with a red blush

The best cooking apples, I find, are often not very good to eat out of hand.

But this one looks promising and smells wonderful—a spicy cider aroma—so we'll see.

Saturday, December 11, 2021

MAIA test 68

Today's apple is courtesy of David Doud of the Midwest Apple Improvement Association.

The apple doesn't have a name (and may never earn one), but this is the breeding co-op that brought us Evercrisp.

Sunday, December 5, 2021

Hermann Mac

red streaky apple with brown splotches

The name "Hermann Mac" suggests the apple is is a sport of McIntosh. If so, it is one that ripens later than the original version.

This sample, from a home orchard, has superficial defects including sooty blotch and flyspeck. These are two wonderfully descriptive names for different fungi that live on the peel and do not affect eating quality.

Sunday, November 28, 2021

Novaspy *

Oval apple with an orage-red blush marked by sooty blotch and other superficial defects

Today's apple is a "new" Northern Spy–type apple from Nova Scotia (get it?). It's one of the "Nova" series bred by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

This Nova, from a home grower, exhibits both flyspeck (which has nothing to do with flies) and sooty blotch (which has nothing to do with soot) over an uneven orange-red blush and yellow-green peel. 

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Sign of the times

A sign by bins of apples invites us to "fill the bag" for $10 (approximately $1.50 per pound)
The sun sets on the last farmers market of the year in Davis Square, Somerville, where deals can be had.

The last market of the year closed cold but bright on the day before Thanksgiving.

Monday, November 22, 2021

Scott's Winter (Scott) **

A tapered, oblate red apple in the sun

This medium-sized, slightly tapered apple has a rich (but nonetheless striped) red blush that covers most of an underlying yellow.

Tiny light lenticels widely spaced, ribbing, and a bit of natural gloss, round out the classic look. Mine bears a sweet cidery aroma.

Thursday, November 18, 2021

November Sun

Apple trees bare of leaves in the sun
The apple trees bask in the low light at Hutchins Farm earlier today.

This week has been an apple hunt for me. I've picked up some Melrouge, Winesap, Blushing Golden, and Arkansas Black. 

Tuesday, November 16, 2021

"Henderson" Crabs

small orange crabapples hanging the sun

Random crabapples? You might think I would have done this before, but no. 

I do not know what this little apple may be, if it has a variety name. I just prefer to call it something other than "unknown crabapple 1"

Henderson is a personal nickname.

I shall be surprised if this is in any way good to eat. It may be a spitter. 

Friday, November 12, 2021

Hunt. Gather.

A mosaic shows a man and a woman holding spears and dressed in animal skins as they carry a dead dear on a pole between them

Halloween marks the border between abundance and scarcity, between summer and winter, between the living and the dead.

Today we are well into hoarding time, scavanging time, pirate time, keeper time.

Monday, November 8, 2021

Reinette Clochard apple

Squat light-green apple with small delicate orange blush

Four years after I first had this elegant hobo of an apple, I have the opportunity to take a second bite.

I might learn something new, or at least have a very nice (two-star) snack.

Outside

These green apples are compact and oblate apples with just a little ribbing, medium sized. The stems are quite short and the peachy-orange blush is partial and translucent. 

Thursday, November 4, 2021

Mutsu vs. Shizuka smackdown

Two green apples

These Japanese apples have the same parents. How far does the family resemblance go?

Saturday, October 30, 2021

Tree-fresh Braeburn apples

Two red, pretty apples

I conclude my long deep dive into Braeburn with two examples bought at a local farmers market on October 20.

The project was inspired by a comment from a reader, who suggested that Braeburn was a fickle, variable apple that could not be relied upon to be the same from harvest to harvest or day to day.

Thursday, October 28, 2021

Belmont farewell

Vegitables spread out benieth a tens, benieth gray skies

There is something a little forelorn about the last market of the year.

Wednesday, October 27, 2021

Raw deal

Many kinds of apples at farmers market on a raw, wet day

Another year, and another photo of a raw, wet ending to farmers market in Arlington earlier today.

There goes the punch bowl, just as the party was getting good.

Saturday, October 23, 2021

That time of year

People looking at many wooden bins of many kinds of apples, all labeled

There were 24 kinds of apples at the farmer's market in Union Square (Somerville) earlier today.

Friday, October 22, 2021

Shizuka

Spring ggreen apple with small faint pink blush

My two Shizuka apples are large and spring green, slightly oblate spheres decorated with crackles of tan russet and darker green lenticels that have small light centers.

One of my samples, shown, has a faint pink-orange blush in a region of peel that is almost yellow. (It also has some tiny bruises.)

Monday, October 18, 2021

Friday, October 15, 2021

Mountain Rose

Green ap[;ewth a small pink lush and a leaf folded across the top

Hype about Mountain Rose has become a cloud of uncertainty about these apples. Are they the same as Airlie Redflesh, aka Hidden Rose?

The stroke of a knife will help shed light on that.

A green apple cut open to reveal pink streaks in its flesh

Monday, October 11, 2021

Still good

 JUST NOT GREAT, THIS YEAR

A striped orange-red apple with a crown of leaves

We've had an unusually wet growing season this year, and the apples have soaked up the water and grown fat.

A juicy apple is nice, but not every variety benefits qualitatively from this aqueous bounty.

Tuesday, October 5, 2021

Goodby, Macoun. Hello, King David?

A ribbed Macoun apple
Macoun
A dark red King David apple
King David
Macoun, the queen of vinous apples, is just not 100% if grown in Virginia.

King David, apple of the South, does not reach its peak here in New England.

I shall miss Macoun.

Friday, October 1, 2021

Priscilla apples second bite

Two red apples of different size

In my review of this apple ten years ago, I hoped to revisit Priscilla once better samples came my way.

These are a few weeks earlier and better, one a squat medium and the other quite large and a bit tapered.

They have a little ribbing and a lovely deep red blush, streaky in spots, over yellow, attractively freckled with tiny light lenticel dots.

Sunday, September 26, 2021

Rubens (Civni) (Red Rubens)

Tapered apple with partial orange-red blush

My samples are large tapered apples with a variable orange-red blush.

Probably, these Rubenses are well-colored sports, hence the "red." If so, I imagine the blush is weaker on plain old regular Rubens. 

Thursday, September 23, 2021

Beauty

Small apple with distinct red and orange-gold regions on the peel

There is not really anything new to say about the wonderful Chestnut Crabapple that I have not said before.

I just grabbed this one at farmer's market yesterday because it is so darned pretty.

Tuesday, September 21, 2021

September trove

Six varieties of apples, 17 in all, arranged in three groups on a rustic wooden step

Last Sunday, irregularly observed in these parts as Talk Like A Pirate Day, I went a little nuts buying apples.

Saturday, September 18, 2021

HunnyZ *

Large orange-red apple, broad and tapered

Today the wholesale-retail apple system has coughed up a brand new variety bearing a contender for Most Fwow Up Name of All Time.

But let's not hold that against the apple, which had no role in the marketing brainstorming or trademark registration that produced the name. That is all on us human beans.

HunnyZ is large and moderately ribbed, broad and a little tapered, with an orange-red blush over light green yellow. 

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

Heirloom?

A red apple next to a smaller orange one.

Got these two truly great apples at farmers market on Wednesday.

To be specific, there's McIntosh, the tart, balanced king of autumn in these parts. A steal at $2.50/lb.

Next to it is the Chestnut Crabapple, a little wonder that is not to be missed. Proudly marked "Heirloom," it went for $4.00/lb. (!).

So, what makes it an "heirloom"?

Saturday, September 11, 2021

Fat and happy? NE harvest report

Many wooden bins filled with many many apples

The future is very bright for the apple harvest this year, according to the growers interviewed by Liza Zwrin and published in the Boston Globe on September 8.

If nothing goes wrong.

Thursday, September 9, 2021

Sunday, August 15, 2021

Macoun a year in

A ribbed apple with a saturated purple-red blush

There is no way this can be very good, and I almost shied away out of respect for one of my favorite apples, Macoun.

But curiosity, and respect for yours, led me to buy two of these at a farm stand in Bolton on August 13.

Friday, August 13, 2021

Trailman Crabapple **

JUST PEACHY

4 yellow and orange crab apples

These little guys, from Indiana, have exactly the same colors as the local peaches here in the Bay State right now.

They are a sight for sore eyes. I have not tasted a new variety since last October.

These are Trailmans, and they are crab sized, most just a bit over an inch wide.

Wednesday, July 28, 2021

First!

A crate of apples and a pop-up label that says "Vista Bella"

The harvest begins with a crate of Vista Bella and the distinctive flavor of watermelon candy.

Friday, July 23, 2021

13 Years of Apples

Have I been slacking off lately? 

On this anniversary of my first blog post, I am still here. Still exploring the pomacious fruit, and hoping to score some fresh (to me) varieties this season.

This pandemic year has not been a great one (for any of us), and I have had some other projects making demands on my attention. But for me, writing is a kind of balm and source of forward motion and hope.

To subscribers

For those who subscribe to this blog by email: I have not yet resolved the looming issue of how to keep those emails coming. 

There may be interruptions in service, and at some point you may receive a notice about your subscription from an unfamiliar source. 

Check back at the website if you do not hear anything for a while.

Monday, July 12, 2021

'The Braeburn That I Ate Today'

Three red apples, of varying shape and shades of red

A few years ago, Mike, a reader, proposed a blog called "The Braeburn That I Ate Today."

He was reflecting on the variability of his favorite apple.

Until he follows through with this noble plan, I am filling in with a report about a dozen different Braebs I've eaten this year.

Tuesday, June 22, 2021

Mapping British orchards

Map of an orchard

The London-based People's Trust for Endangered Species is mapping its Traditional Orchard Survey, an ongoing project to identify orchards in the United Kingdom.

Another group maps community orchards in England and Scotland.

Saturday, May 29, 2021

So you like Granny Smith

green-skinned apple

This distinctive big green apple is named for the Australian farmer who discovered the variety growing in a trash heap.

Granny's fans are maverick lovers of tart in an ocean of sugary apples. 

In person, the apple bears a good deal of offsetting sweetness alongside its citric tang. Lime, pear, and cane sugar balance together.

Wednesday, May 19, 2021

Quickies

The six weeks leading up to the start of the harvest feel like they are each a month long.

Red apple with a network of brown russet
crackles

To pass the time, can you tell which apple made me ask, "what if you diluted one Cox's Orange Pippin into a peck of Red Delicious?"

Friday, April 30, 2021

Hoople's Antique Gold **

What a marvelous name! What do you think it means?

Partially russeted yellow apple with a thin stem
These conical light yellow apples are on the large side of small, classically shaped with only a hint of ribs. There's a coppery crown of russet and some brown around the base.

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

The art of the keeper

Two apples, one mostly yellow and wone with orange streaks

Today I get to eat two excellent modern apples ("worth seeking!") that share a particular quality.

Competently managed, they both deliver peak eating in the spring.

Lady Alice, at right, has saturated flavors with wonderful malt notes and a substantial crunch. GoldRush presents pear and banana along with a dash of citrus. 

Sunday, April 11, 2021

Cosmos

A darker Cosmic Crisp

Tiny light lenticial dots contrast with the dark red blush of this apple.

The folks at Washington State University looked at it and saw stars: pinpoints in the night sky.

They named the apple "Cosmic Crisp."

However, the blush of the Cosmic Crisps I reviewed in 2019 was not particularly dark.

Saturday, April 3, 2021

Apples on the Web: Apples and People

IT STARTS WITH A MAP

Painted map of an orchard showing every tree

My love of apples goes without saying, but I am especially beguiled by their human-facing side: the stories and customs and lore around them, the names we give apples, the magic, history, spirit, and significance they lend us as we endow the same to them.

Those intangibles are the heart of a new website, profoundly English and with an impressive roster of sponsors and funders.