Adam's Apples

The mountains are Olympic , wreathed in cloud, as seen from across the Hood Canal in Washington State. The apple is an early Shamrock from Pike Place Market , Seattle's justly famous green market ( map ). I bought a few of these out of curiosity and confusion. They do not look much like the Shamrocks I've had here in Massachusetts , in fact I thought these might be Lodis . They are way out of season for Shamrocks. Also the grower confidently explained (I am such a sucker for that) that they were a Granny Smith - McIntosh cross, something I am quite sure I have never tasted. So I thought they might be something new. * Turns out they are not, but I could not resist the camera angle. Here are my tasting notes.

UMass , quoting  Roger Yepsen , calls Shamrock "the East-Coast's version of the  Granny Smith. " It is medium-sized and, as the name suggests, a bright Kelly green. The fruit I am tasting has a small and faint red blush and also some odd black stippling over part of the skin--some kind of russet I imagine. There are dark green spots that are light colored in the blush.