Adam's Apples

These apples are large, classically shaped, and slightly ribbed. The partial orange blush, streaky in spots, is over green-yellow, accented with light lenticels.  ¶  They are fragrant, and some have a little russet in their stem wells.

A TRICK, OR A TREAT? Imagine my surprise at seeing a russet apple among those from the Midwest Apple Improvement Association . M AIA is a modern-day breeding program that develops varieties with commercial potential.  ¶  One can say (I would!) that an aromatic russet variety should command market share. Nonetheless, promoting one in today's environment would be a bold move indeed. But not so fast.

Today we have a large oblate apple, its yellow ribs blending gently with the spring-green valleys between.  ¶  It wears a swath of coppery russet like a bicorn hat radiating from the well where sits a short stubby stem.  ¶  There are crackles of russet on one side, some darker green streaks, and dark grey lenticel dots across the field. There's a smattering of harmless flyspeck (which has nothing to do with flies) as well.

Today we stray into speculative territory. MAIA 1284 has not been released by the Midwest Apple Improvement Association. It may never be.  ¶  Should it? You be the judge of its unusual flavor set.

Red, ribbed, and russeted: Scruffy's blush, and dull-yellow unblushed peel, peers out from behind fractal-edged russet that seems to be spreading from pole to pole.  ¶  It is hefty and sprinkled with russeted lenticel dots (and less-obvious "clean" ones). The example in my photo is especially lopsided.

Scarlet Crunch, large and conical, wears a streaky warm red blush over green-tinted yellow.  ¶  They are only slightly ribbed (you have to hunt for that) and are decorated with nearly invisible lenticel dots.

I have a healthy batch of these pale yellow apples courtesy ( again !) of Michael Wunsch of North Dakota. Medium to large, they have a small red-orange blush that is speckled and spotty.  ¶  They are slightly ribbed and only slightly asymmetrical (the significance of which will perhaps become clear below). Each is so glossy with wax that they are what apple nerds call "greasy," though none of it will come off on your fingers.

I'm able to share Red Baron with you today thanks to the generosity of Michael Wunsch, an orchardist in east-central North Dakota.  ¶  Glossy with natural wax , these run the gamut from the large end of of small to the smaller part of large. The red blush (streaky in spots) mostly covers a yellow peel tinged with green. 

A modern fruit breeder would never name an apple anything like "Anton Poulter." It would be trademarked as "HoneyCluck" or "Sweet Chicks" etcetera.  ¶  But today's apple dates from a gentler time, when a farmer might discover a new apple growing on his* farm (*for surely Anton was a man) and bring it to the state fair or horticultural society.

Today's apples are small and medium sized, round with no ribbing but flattened so they don't roll. What looks like ribs in the photo are small bruises.  ¶  The blush lies streaky red over a green that sometimes leans towards yellow, and the resulting variation in saturation of blush over variable shades makes for a variegated surface, sometimes dull red-green, sometimes orange, or yellow or green.

I've got two of these, medium and large, pale yellow-green with small faint peach blush. They are round, with flattened tops and bottoms, those of the larger one especially so.  ¶  Flyspeck and a few small bruises join many filled grey lenticels decorating the peel. They do not come from a big industrial orchard. These apples have a lovely sweet aroma.

This handsome apple blushes deep red, at its most saturated as dark as any Arkansas Black or Black Oxford .  ¶  It is decorated with many small light lenticel dots, and the unblushed portion is streaky over yellow.  ¶  Soluna is sightly tapered and slightly ribbed, firm in hand with a pleasant fruity aroma.

A WHOLE LOTTA NOTHING  ¶  All supermarket apples are good looking, and Dazzle, with its cool red blush decorated with many small lenticel dots, is no exception.  ¶  The apple is large and blocky, with only a slight taper keeping it from a completely cylindrical profile. The blush mostly covers a yellow peal, and is thinner (and warmer) on the shaded side.  ¶  Its calyx is open.