Quick bites

Ice and snow here, a good time to catch up on some reading.

Apple lore

This handwritten 125-year-old volume of Minnesota apple variety descriptions is meticulously curated online by the University of Minnesota. (Image above.) From the 2019 preface:

This is likely the most comprehensive listing of apple varieties and seedling selections available in Minnesota during the period. Many are now lost and some are important ancestors to 20th and 21st century varieties.

Complete with line drawings. Elsewhere, a discussion of the book and how it fits into the history of apple breeding.

Everybody's a critic

Professional apple hollerer Brian Frange has the nerve to publish reviews of apples on the internet! They are outrageous, scatological, opinionated, and accompanied by a prim numerical score.

Do we care if we agree with Brian? If his sometimes-photo-shopped photos don't always match the apples in question? If maybe a quantitative numerical score is not a good idea?

Read his Apple Rankings to see.

Cider finder

Ever drink your fruit? Eric West maintains a United States Cider Map (which also includes some cider makers in Canada and Mexico). 

It's sortable, zoomable, and clickable in a lot of handy ways.

A trip to Kazakstan

This is a nested Russian doll of a tale, story within story within story. 

It is a tribute to a late friend, thanks for "the relatively inefficient digestive system of the horse," and a vividly described trip to Alma-Ata, Almaty, the father of apples and the capitol of Kazakstan.

Don't skip the post-script at the end.

Nibbles

• "A typical 240 g [gram] apple contains roughly 100 million bacteria," and organic apples have more healthful bugs than "regular store-bought." (more...)
• Prohibition killed cider largely a myth, according to Cider with Maria.
• This discussion of the economics of club apples is a bit of a ramble, but the table of modern varieties at the end is especially interesting.
• An "intense" apple is the fruit of the year in Switzerland

Curator's note: I came across these in the past year, though some are older.