Adam's Apples

IF THEE MUST GROW, THEE MAY  ¶  I never thought to taste this apple, discovered by a farmer in Iowa nearly 150 years ago. It has been superseded by history. Hawkeye was purchased by Stark Brothers and then modified by sport after sport to be nearly unrecognizable. You surely know it, as Red Delicious .

Does it look big? Today's handsome apple is a hefty 12 inches around. Its name, a mere number, betrays the fact that it has not been released as a branded variety by the New York State apple breeding program at Cornell.

Arlington's farmers market ends on a day of fog and drizzle. There were 22 different kinds of apples to buy at Arlington's farmers market on Wednesday, the last of the year.

Some apples are innately big or small, but also apples can mature at different sizes depending on thinning or on growing conditions.  However, the long thin stems on today's pretty, red-blushed treat suggest that Sops in Wine never gets very large. That stem could not support a large heavy fruit. The apple (on the small end of medium-sized) is ribbed and oblate. The crimson blush, though saturated in spots, is mostly streaky, over a pale green yellow.

Twenty-six different kinds of apples were on offer this morning at Volante Farms in Needham, Massachusetts.

The apples hung heavy, sweet, and ready in Harvard, Massachusetts, yesterday.

FRIEND OR FAUX?  ¶  I approach this tasting with the knowledge that my sample is not the legendary English cider apple, Foxwhelp . Today's is a different apple that was confused with the real thing in North America decades ago. Still, this is a cultivated variety, worth tasting. I assume it resembles the true Foxwhelp. Mine is round with some flattening at top and bottom and just a little conical taper. It is hefty with almost no ribbing, a light spring green with a streaky red blush.

Apples in the low October sun Just a few of the twenty-five varieties of apples for sale at the farmers market today in Arlington, Massachusetts.

Update: Looks like this was actually Sunrise Magic , a new variety from Washington State that I have re-reviewed. More on this confusion below. These medium-sized apples are mostly conical and tapered, though one sample is a bit rounder. They are ribbed, sometimes markedly so, with calyxes that fairly gape—you can see right inside them. The wash of orange-red blush covers a pale yellow peel tinged with green. There are many faint tiny lenticel dots, easier to spot in the unblushed portion but not prominent anywhere.

 What are they? An old orchard, a mystery apple, and two more. In autumn. What's not to like? Come with me and review the what we know.

These green, ribbed apples run quite large, with a partial streaky red blush and a satin finish. Large tan lenticel dots are prominent, but only within the blushed region. The calyx is closed. The apple is oblate and a bit lopsided.

Sweet Liberty I love my readers, and treasure all your comments. Hearing from you pays me back for all the work I put into this blog. This note today, from a reader who signs his or her comments "The Fluffy Bunny," is epic . Writing of Liberty (shown), While apple aficionados might guess this apple is a member of the Snow/McIntosh clan, if you asked them to guess its familia association I doubt it would even be on their radar until you mentioned it. For one, the strong vinous flavor of McIntosh and Macoun is far more muted to nonexistent in Liberty.

Hail Haralson, elder god in the pantheon of Midwest apples! I first reviewed Haralson in 2016, but a few fresh samples have come my way.

Those are Golden Russets on that tree. And in the background?

Pro tip: You do not see this every day.

MARKET NOTES It has taken a while—this is the worst year for local apples that I can remember—but we are finally into high season.

These two apples, though very different, share many characteristics. Thus this taste test. Other than size—both are small, though not crabs—these do not look much alike.

The grower tells me that this old, and celebrated, cider apple is coming in at different stages of ripeness this year. The smaller, redder one at right is an outlier. These are wider (perhaps an inch) than tall (three fourths), most with a wash of orange-tinted red blush over a pale greenish yellow. The apples are glossy and somewhat ribbed. Their lenticel dots can barely be made out, and then only as green spots in the unblushed region.