Adam's Apples

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. 

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.

A real plot twist, this one.  ¶  Robijn, small to medium sized, are a bit squat and modestly ribbed, many lopsided. The variegated blush, over yellow includes some very deep red streaks that are almost black.  ¶  Some bear zig zags of russet. Small tan lenticel dots swim in the mix of red and orange. The peal has a dull shine and a greasy (that is, waxy) feel. The stem is slim.  ¶  These apples have a sweet aroma, some with yeasty overtones. These are organic apples.

Do you admire this shapely carnelian-red apple with the light lenticel dots mixed with squiggles of russet? If so, you and I see the world in the same way.  ¶  If this apple disturbs you or freaks you out, then you are stuck, I am afraid, with the perfect shiny waxed globes at your supermarket.  ¶  These Red Royal Limbertwigs are medium and large, with understated ribbing. One of these has a closed calyx while the other's is wide open: don't ask me what that means.  ¶  Although off the tree for several weeks, these feel promisingly firm. Their faint aroma is sweet and floral.

I found these medium-sized apples with a blush of pure red at a farm store on the Fife coast .  ¶  Discovery is practically unribbed and bears many light lenticels so small as to be difficult to see in poor light, both in the blush and in the yellow part of the peal.  ¶  My examples come in assorted shapes, one squat and oblate, another more conical. They both wear crowns of russet around the stem well.

Not sure what to make of today's apple, called "Pixie." Probably it is Pixie Crunch , though it is a bit large for that, a large medium, barely ribbed, and moderately oblated at top and bottom.  ¶  Photo:  Pixie Crunch from 2020. Color and lenticel dots match.

On the small side of large, my Rajka has a classically tapered shape and a streaky red blush.  ¶  That blush, while attenuated on what must have been a shaded side, essentially covers the entire apple. There is just a little underlying yellow peeping through. Some of the blush is saturated and deep.  ¶  A second sample is squat and oblate, and the blush is deep and saturated over a larger area. Both are slightly lopsided and lean to one side.

Orange on orange :  These are some of the Cox's Orange Pippins that I picked this month.

Fall foliage frames the farmers market in Arlington, Massachusetts, on September 25.  ¶  Farmers brought 13 different kinds of apples to Arlington's fall farmers market yesterday.

You could still get the excellent Chestnut Crabapple at farmers market today, but my attention was all on Macoun.  ¶  Macoun is among the best of the vast McIntosh family, and it time is now.

THE BEST TIME OF THE YEAR :  This week marks the start of the pomological fall season , and the markets are swelling with fruit.  ¶    I counted 11 varieties, including fan favorites Honeycrisp and McIntosh (though the latter are probably a bit early).

John Chapman, popularly called Johnny Appleseed, is responsible in large part for the genetic diversity of American apples.  ¶  He was also born not far from where I live, and his birthday was last month (which is when I tasted this apple).  ¶  So it seems entirely appropriate that someone should name an apple for him. Similarly, that they should be ripe on his birthday, ready for me to taste and tell you about.

Today's striking apple, somewhere between medium and large, has a blush that ranges from deep to streaky over yellow.  ¶  Classically shaped and lightly ribbed, Legace wears many small light lenticel dots in its scarlet coat.  ¶  I'm not sure why, but the color of this apple in my photo is less vibrant and saturated than in person. That might be due to lighting or perhaps the existence of a bit of a bloom that has rubbed off my tasting sample. I am quite sure I have the right apple, however.

Three painterly Pomme Gris apples bask in today's mellow September sun.

Sixteen is the magic number of apple choices at today's farmers market in Arlington, Massachusetts. Including Macoun, Pomme Gris, and Wickson.  ¶   (Photo:  A few of the apples you could buy today in Arlington, Massachusetts. )  Now you're talking.  ¶  Tomorrow's market in neighboring Belmont may have even more, because all of the same apple farms are usually present, plus Hutchins, an organic farm in Concord.

Today's apples (I have two) are large and medium sized, both with an attractive and mostly saturated streaky blush over yellow green.  ¶  There's also a light milky-blue bloom that isn't visible in the photo.  ¶  The apples are more round than anything else; there is very light ribbing. The larger one is lopsided but I think that it grew that way competing for room with another apple. Speaking of the vissicitudes of orchard life, the smaller apple has discolored indentations on the side not shown above. They might be the marks of hail.

Just some of the choices at the farmers market in Belmont, Massachusetts, earlier today. I am used to thinking of mid-September as a kind of calm before the storm of fruit to come, a time when there are no new choices at the market at all. And it is true that this week the roll call of apples only grew from 10 to 11. But look at these heavy hitters.

Making the scene at the Arlington, Massachusetts, farmers market yesterday.  ¶  Those are Macouns lurking in the back, but this is the week for the Chestnut Crab .  ¶  It's about a week too early for marvelous Macoun. And those Chestnuts are really good.