Adam's Apples

I got 2 of these possible apples from the Midwest Apple Improvement Association , one picked on September 26 and the other on October 10. What's "possible" about 47 is that this variety could be selected for further development. Someday, it could get a catchy name and be available in orchards or supermarkets. In the meantime, these two samples look similar: a yellow apple with green highlights, oblate, with gray lenticels. 

The blush on this conical apple is a wash of translucent orange, except for one saturated swath of deeper hue. Of course, that is where the light-brown lenticel dots are largest and most obvious. Ribbing on this variety is negligible, and my sample, hazard du transit, is bruised. The underlying peel is a sunny yellow.

Today's apple is (a) lopsided and (b) huge, with effectively no ribbing (meaning, sure, you can find some if you look closely).  It has a weak orange-red blush streakily spanning about a third of the peel, which is a very yellow shade of green. Against this background, the otherwise light brown lenticel dots do not stand out unless filled with greyish matter that might be a kind of russet. 16 has a thick stem, an open calyx, and a satiny finish.

This apple is past its prime, with a bit of give and some small wrinkles on one side. Nonetheless, my approach is to taste first and hope for a better sample next year. There may not be a next year for this apple, as it is under development by the Midwest Apple Improvement Assiciation and is not guaranteed to make the cut. But if "test 14" does make it into an orchard near you (with a catchier name), then you read about it here first.

This unnamed apple is large and oblate, with a red blush that nearly covers all the underlying yellow. Striking tan lenticels jump out, while the merist of ribbing is only noticeable on close inspection.

The best cooking apples, I find, are often not very good to eat out of hand. But this one looks promising and smells wonderful—a spicy cider aroma—so we'll see.

Today's apple is courtesy of David Doud of the  Midwest Apple Improvement Association . The apple doesn't have a name (and may never earn one), but this is the breeding co-op that brought us Evercrisp .

The name "Hermann Mac" suggests the apple is is a sport of McIntosh . If so, it is one that ripens later than the original version. This sample, from a home orchard, has superficial defects including sooty blotch and flyspeck. These are two wonderfully descriptive names for different fungi that live on the peel and do not affect eating quality.

Today's apple is a "new" Northern Spy–type apple from Nova Scotia (get it?). It's one of the "Nova" series bred by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada . This Nova, from a home grower, exhibits both flyspeck (which has nothing to do with flies) and sooty blotch (which has nothing to do with soot) over an uneven orange-red blush and yellow-green peel. 

This medium-sized, slightly tapered apple has a rich (but nonetheless striped) red blush that covers most of an underlying yellow. Tiny light lenticels widely spaced, ribbing, and a bit of natural gloss, round out the classic look. Mine bears a sweet cidery aroma.

Random crabapples? You might think I would have done this before, but no.  I do not know what this little apple may be, if it has a variety name. I just prefer to call it something other than "unknown crabapple 1" Henderson is a personal nickname. I shall be surprised if this is in any way good to eat. It may be a spitter. 

My two Shizuka apples are large and spring green, slightly oblate spheres decorated with crackles of tan russet and darker green lenticels that have small light centers. One of my samples, shown, has a faint pink-orange blush in a region of peel that is almost yellow. (It also has some tiny bruises.)

My samples are large tapered apples with a variable orange-red blush. Probably, these Rubenses are well-colored sports , hence the "red." If so, I imagine the blush is weaker on plain old regular Rubens. 

Today the wholesale-retail apple system has coughed up a brand new variety bearing a contender for Most Fwow Up Name of All Time. But let's not hold that against the apple, which had no role in the marketing brainstorming or trademark registration that produced the name. That is all on us human beans. HunnyZ is large and moderately ribbed, broad and a little tapered, with an orange-red blush over light green yellow. 

JUST PEACHY These little guys, from Indiana, have exactly the same colors as the local peaches here in the Bay State right now. They are a sight for sore eyes. I have not tasted a new variety since last October. These are Trailmans, and they are crab sized, most just a bit over an inch wide.

What a marvelous name! What do you think it means? These conical light yellow apples are on the large side of small, classically shaped with only a hint of ribs. There's a coppery crown of russet and some brown around the base.