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.