Adam's Apples

The pretty darlings sleep yesterday at Hutchins Farm in Concord, Massachusetts.

Despite 60° (F) weather, apple buds are dormant on the trees at Hutchins Farm in Concord, Massachusetts, earlier today. As a follow-up to yesterday's substantially revised report , it looks as though the warm weather here has not roused the apple trees from their protective winter sleep. Winter is not done with us yet.

Update: These are peach trees. A fuschia cloud of buds hovers low over Carlson Orchard in Harvard, Massachusetts, earlier today

Apple trees bask in unseasonably warm February sun at Hutchins Farm in Concord, Massachusetts, earlier today.

Though not a member of the Legion of Honeycrisp Fans, I understand (and respect) the appeal: an explosively crisp fruit with candy-like sweetness. That's why I do not understand the draw of out-of-season Honeycrisp , which continues to dominate supermarket produce aisles at premium prices.

I rate apples from one to three stars. Once a year at this time , I add ratings for recent finds and make adjustments. In 2019, I tasted 16 apples for the first time, and resampled some others. Here's my verdict.

No wonder they call keepers "winter apples." I got two pecks of GoldRush apples today.

Last year I only tasted 3 "new" (as in, new to me ) apples, so this will be short. It's halfway to spring (yes it is !), and it is my custom at this time of year to bring my qualitative ratings  up to date, awarding one, two, three, or no stars.

A small part of the orchard last Saturday at Clarkdale Fruit Farms . 

They're available now. But are they any good? Lady Alice made her New England debut in the spring of 2010, leaving a very favorable impression. I awarded her two stars ("worth seeking") for great texture and rich and unusual flavors. That this variety needed to sit until March or April to reach her peak was a feature, not a bug; having something this good to bite at that time of year was a welcome treat amid the tired supermarket standards. Starting in 2011, reports began to trickle in here of this variety for sale in February. Or, I should perhaps say, complaints: blandness, bitterness, a "chemical taste," and general dissatisfaction.

What apples do you like for late winter and early spring? I usually lean heavily on Macouns for as long as they last, but the crop was small this year. Empire can be reliable and I often find myself turning to them in April, May, and June. But this winter I ate a lot of three varieties that previously were only available briefly. They are Opal , a new European variety that has just one North American grower The uneven, but superb when at best, Lady Alice Elusive  Pacific Rose

Granny Smith The second-best apple I had this cold bleak month was a Granny Smith from the West Coast: crisp, tart, satisfying. The best was a surprise Macoun from Albany via New York City. My wife and daughter brought it back from the St. Stephen's Greenmarket on Manhattan's east side. Macoun has been off the menu here in Boston for months this year. It does not surprise me, though, that some New York growers still have good ones in storage , or that they should find their way to the Big Apple . I'm guessing this one grew at Samascott Orchards, just south of Albany.

Piñata Your reports from the field have humbled me. January's post, trying to describe what apple varieties might be available to you, was a mistake. This whole monthly "What to eat" series seemed like a reasonable idea when I began last August and downright brilliant in September and October. New England is a grand place for apples in the fall. But come winter, we New Englanders take our miserable places at the very back of the food queue. The produce-laden trucks come here dead last, and we get the leavin's. Which as we saw comprise 16 different varieties of apples. This is not too shabby. But it's a poor place to stand when advising the rest of the apple-eating world about what is good to eat. I've learned some things nonetheless--with your help. My requests for reports from the field brought news of Winesaps , Jonamacs , and Romes for sale in Virgi...