Adam's Apples

King blossoms on an apple tree at Hutchins Farm in Concord, Massachusetts, yesterday.  ¶  First to come forth, the king blossom heralds the harvest to be.  ¶  Blogger Chris, of A Life of Apples , tells us  ❝ Every fruiting spur on an apple tree produces a cluster of six buds; five centered around a central blossom known as the King Blossom.  This blossom is the first to open and pollination of it is key in insuring good fruit set.

ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠώς: The buds on the trees at Hutchins Farm in Concord, Massachusetts earlier today blush like eager debutantes  While some in other climes report blossoms , we are in the chill stasis of a Massachusetts April.  ¶  The cool temperatures slow the rhythms of spring. Magnolia, forsythia, and even cherry persist; apples are standing by.

A bud is opening on an apple tree in Lexington, Massachusetts yesterday.  ¶  Some are reporting apple blossoms , but where I live things are still mostly buttoned up, though that is changing.  ¶  It's still forsythia and cherries here, though just a few towns farther from the sea the magnolias are in full bloom. The apples cannot be far behind.

Tomorrow's apples take shape on a tree at Hutchins Farm in Concord, Massachusetts earlier today.  ¶  Pomological spring is a hopeful time, made dear by uncertainty.

Whan that April with his showres soot is when (whan?) GoldRush, that king of keepers, is ready to eat.  ¶  It's also when I see how the ones I laid down in my refrigerator in December have fared in my home newsprint-and-perforated-plastic-bag storage system.

Yes that's snow! March 9 at Hutchins Farm in Concord, Massachusetts.  ¶  Temperatures here shot up from the 20s to the 70s (Fahrenheit) in the past week, so I hopped on my bicycle and peddled through the melt to Concord.

The Cortland apple has an ardent following. In September and October, I like Macs and Macouns, close Cort relations.  Photo: McIntosh (L) and Cortland  ¶  But lately, in February and now March, I have been enjoying Cortland's crisp vinous goodness.  ¶  Let's see how it stacks up agains the Mac at this time of year.

Would you like to know an old-time apple recipe for Norfolk Biffin (or other fruit recipes , some from antiquity)?  ¶  Perhaps you'd be interested in a deep dive into claims that some apples date from Roman times ?  ¶  How about an introduction to apple and pear identification ? From a fellow who grew several score of different apples last fall?

Behold:  ❝ A pineapple fucked a pear and somehow made a baby that looks like an apple. That is the Cox’s Orange Pippin . ❞  or this:   ❝ Maiden’s Blush : Wet sad sandcastle heralds the death of summer, but at least it smells nice, so stick a wick in it and use it as a candle. ❞ 

Three apples rate a star. Two earn two.  ¶  I tasted nine apple varieties for the first time last year.  ¶  Alas, may of my examples were clearly past their prime. Consequently, I'm not able to give them the recognition they probably deserve.  ¶  But first: What's going on? I rate apples every year at this time , using my own qualitative system, one to three stars .

Last fall I was invited to identify some apples growing in a neighbor's yard.  ¶  Not to beat around the tree: these proved to be Northern Spy, something that the home owners had suspected.  ¶  I'm not actually a great apple detective , so just as well! But my payment was a nice ration of these apples, reminding me of how good they are.  ¶  Why did I need to be reminded?

Granny blushes, if you let her.  ¶  You would not know it from prowling the supermarket, however: She is a late apple usually picked too soon.  ¶  Today I will assay one from a local orchard. It was, maybe, allowed to ripen fully, though I am eating it more than a month after it was picked (and publishing this account even later than that, sorry!).

I begin 2026 with a refrigerator full of apples, and a number of half-finished blog posts and ideas from 2025. Several things, including some delightful travel, kept me away from this blog this fall.  ¶  Photo:  A Bramley's Seedling takes in the view from the walls of Edinburgh Castle.