Adam's Apples

Of Nagog Hill Farm, a reader tells us ,  ❝ The property belongs to the Town of Littleton. The people who had been operating the orchard didn't renew the 30-year lease. The Town. . .has offered the property for lease or sale. ❞  (Photo:  Neglected apple trees at Nagog Hill Farm in Littleton, Massachusetts. ) 

In the first six months of this blog, which I started 16 years ago today , I tasted and described 44 different kinds of apples.  ¶  That is not an annual milestone I ever passed, nor hoped to, because back then every apple was new to me.  ¶  But last year came close, with 39 first-time varieties. That's owing to fall travel (to Quebec and England ) and to the kindness of fellow apple aficionados who shared some of their favorite apples with me.

Too green, too early, and doubtless too unripe, the very first apples of the 2024 harvest landed at Farmers Market in Arlington today.  ¶  And though I grouse about farmers who pick apples before their time, in this case I say, not a moment too soon .

The apples in the supermarkets here were picked nearly a year ago.  ¶  And it shows.