Adam's Apples

On the large side of small, James Grieve is round, oblate, and not significantly ribbed.  ¶  It sports a red blush tinted with orange, over yellow, streaky and variegated with indistinct boundaries for a blotchy effect, kind of festive. The lenticel dots are yellow spots.  ¶ 

A russeted sport of Norfolk Royal, mine is medium sized, classically shaped, and slightly oblate.  ¶  This apple features a partial red blush that is quite saturated in places over a pale yellow that is echoed by a pale olive-gold russet. It's hard to say, but I think the russet interrupts the blush and accounts for the more subdued pink areas surrounding the saturated red. The effect is very striking. The apple is modestly but definitely ribbed. 

I guess this gigantic apple is England's King Luscious . It is colossal, some 13-1/2 inches around.  ¶  Howgate Wonder's size grabbed my attention right away. Beyond that, it is conical and moderately ribbed, a light spring green with a streaky red blush and a glossy peel. It's lenticels are small and indistinct. 

It took me a while to identify one of the characteristic flavors of this apple, but once my mouth figured it out the taste was obvious.  ¶  Rubinola is round, oblate, and barely ribbed. The streaky red blush is a bit orange where thin over the yellow peel.  There are not only streaks, but also tiny splotches of red floating against a pale orange field.

Deals can be had on the rain-soaked last day of farmers' market 2023 in Davis Square, Somerville.  ¶  Some farmstands sell their apples through February, but most things shut down after Thanksgiving.  ¶  Today was the last day for the farmers market in Davis Square, Somerville.  ¶ 

A cordon of crab apple trees, growing at a 45-degree angle, at Keepers Nursery in East Farleigh, Kent, England.  ¶  An orchard grows fruit, but a nursery grows wood.  ¶  That wood may blossom in the spring and bear fruit in the fall, but the nursery is in the business of trees.  ¶  Last month I visited Keepers Nursery , in the heart of apple country in southeast England. Keepers is a one-person operation in the town of East Farleigh, on the south side of the river Medway in Kent.

Spotted recently: A specialty shop is asking $6.95 per pound for Cortlands.  ¶  I'll pass, mate.

Herefordshire, on the Welsh border, is a name to conjure with in apple and cider circles .  ¶  This apple wears a thin golden brown russet over yellow-green fruit  that has a small rosy pink blush.  ¶  It is medium sized and tapered. Are those dots lenticels or specs of russet (or both)?

The smaller of my two Rubinettes, shown, has a partial red blush hidden behind a fine mesh of russet.  ¶  A second sample is largely unblushed, green yellow, with the blush organized into vertical red stripes.  ¶  These are classically shaped but a bit oblate, with tiny lenticel dots that are filled with dark matter in the unblushed regions.

Margil was recently identified as a parent of the great Cox's Orange Pippin , upending a century of conventional wisdom.  ¶  I was especially curious to try this apple.  ¶  These are conical and ribbed, and not always symmetrical. Medium to large. There's a promising aroma My Margils have a painterly mix of blush, a fine russet, and bare peel, all variations on an orange theme. Indeed it is hard to tell where the russet ends. 

Well, I had to try this one, didn't I?  ¶  Adams Pearmain is very tapered and somewhat ribbed, with distinctive "chins" (or " mammiform crown base protuberances " if you like) at the base.  ¶  The shape resembles that of a Red Delicious, though even more elongated and not as ribbed. The size is also about the same.

Nuvar Golden Hills: a cheerful yellow apple, round, oblate, large, and ribbed. The apple has understated light-grey lenticel dots sometimes filled with a dark russet.  ¶  My sample is not the one shown above, though it is similar. It has a splash of brown russet on one side at the top. There's no hint of a blush on any of these, which is not to say that there might not sometimes be. The peel has a satin finish and is a little waxy. There is a sweet aroma of cider and peaches.

Farmers' market in Davis Square, Somerville, earlier today.  ¶  The urban farmers' markets will continue until Thanksgiving, even though the suburban ones have closed for the year.  ¶  The nearest market to me is in Davis Square, Somerville . The market coordinators told me the market will be open noon to 6 p.m. for the next two Wednesdays, even though it's pretty dark by six.

The trees stand all but bare in stark November light at Shelburne Farm in Stow, Massachusetts.  ¶  The fruit is off the trees, all right. It's sitting in bins ready for you buy.  ¶  Welcome to the hunt-and-gather time of year . It's time to stock up on fruit for the onset of winter.

I learn something from every apple, and now Captain Kidd teaches what the Brits mean by "pear-drop flavour." My sample grew in Kent, in the United Kingdom.  ¶  But in the end I chalk this tasting up as anomalous. You'll see why. The Captain comes in a variety of shapes, not necessarily symmetrical (see photo), but the one I am tasting is distinctly conical with very little ribbing. It is on the small side of medium. 

Here is one very pretty medium-sized yellow apple, decorated with russet like unburnished gold flowing from the stem well. There are channels within the russet that have a green tinge.  ¶  This apple has a very slight taper and is oblate and ribbed. Lenticels that do not present as gray (perhaps russeted in) are very hard to see at all.