Adam's Apples

Surrounded by the plastic and newsprint that kept it over the winter, this 2025 GoldRush apple proved still good to eat in June of 2026.  ¶  As things turned out, my eyes were bigger than my stomach when I squirreled away a score of these apples last fall to eat in April.  ¶  But no matter: GoldRush is a phenomenal keeper apple , still good in June. This is my last one.

SO FAR FROM THE HARVEST  ( GoldRush (L) and Empire ) ¶  The late spring used to be enlivened by imports of (relatively) fresh apples from Chile, New Zealand, and other points south .  ¶  Today these apples are swept away on the ebb tides of global commerce. (Tariffs? Hormuz Strait?) Things are a little bleak.  ¶  This year I've found myself gravitating to the last of my GoldRush from the fall, and, unexpectedly, Empire.

King blossoms on an apple tree at Hutchins Farm in Concord, Massachusetts, yesterday.  ¶  First to come forth, the king blossom heralds the harvest to be.  ¶  Blogger Chris, of A Life of Apples , tells us  ❝ Every fruiting spur on an apple tree produces a cluster of six buds; five centered around a central blossom known as the King Blossom.  This blossom is the first to open and pollination of it is key in insuring good fruit set.

ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠώς: The buds on the trees at Hutchins Farm in Concord, Massachusetts earlier today blush like eager debutantes  While some in other climes report blossoms , we are in the chill stasis of a Massachusetts April.  ¶  The cool temperatures slow the rhythms of spring. Magnolia, forsythia, and even cherry persist; apples are standing by.

A bud is opening on an apple tree in Lexington, Massachusetts yesterday.  ¶  Some are reporting apple blossoms , but where I live things are still mostly buttoned up, though that is changing.  ¶  It's still forsythia and cherries here, though just a few towns farther from the sea the magnolias are in full bloom. The apples cannot be far behind.

Tomorrow's apples take shape on a tree at Hutchins Farm in Concord, Massachusetts earlier today.  ¶  Pomological spring is a hopeful time, made dear by uncertainty.

Whan that April with his showres soot is when (whan?) GoldRush, that king of keepers, is ready to eat.  ¶  It's also when I see how the ones I laid down in my refrigerator in December have fared in my home newsprint-and-perforated-plastic-bag storage system.

This wrinkled, rubbery apple tastes better than anything in supermarkets this month.  ¶  Click to view up close and personal.  ¶  The texture is not bad either.

(Photo: The apple trees are looking for love at Hutchins Farm yesterday in Concord, Massachusetts. )  So far, so good.

Hopeful spring is early days, with months of risk and peril before the harvest.  ¶  Some of these won't make it.  ¶  But it's May, so let's enjoy the beauties of spring and the promises for the fall.

(Photo: Buds are swelling on the apple trees at Hutchins Farms in Concord, Massachusetts, earlier today. ) It's still early days, but promising signs are right up there.

In Kent, at Keepers Nursery, Karim Habbib reports , "The dormant season has come to an end, more or less.... This is very transitional time of the year in the nursery." (Photo: Waking ) In the Manchester (UK) area, Darren Turpin is showing us how to graft .  ¶  Closer to home, the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association will hold its scion exchange on March 30 in the town of Unity.  ¶  Apples have their own seasons. It's spring, more or less.

Two blossoms cling to clay-splattered branches at Hutchins Farm in Concord, Massachusetts, yesterday.  ¶  In this part of New England, spring typically begins with weeks of chilly weather that holds the blooming trees suspended under glass.  ¶  That is followed by a sudden onset of days that are not merely warm but hot. The change is abrupt. The blossoms fall from the trees and boom, it's summer.

There are buds on the branches of the apple trees today at Hutchins Farm in Concord, Massachusetts. A line of younger apple trees is visible in the distance.  ¶  After a week of sleet and snow, yesterday's eclipse seemed to mark a change in the weather and the start of spring.  ¶ 

The trees don their spring finery at Hutchins Farm in Concord, Massachusetts, earlier today. Yes they are tiny. Click to see them better! Mary Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?

Green buds all were swellin' earlier today at Hutchins Farm in Concord, Mass. There Will Be Blossoms. But, will there be apples? 

A wasp helps to bring an apple into the world at Nagog Farm in Littleton, Massachusetts, earlier today. Pollinator, lad and lass, With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino, That o’er the orchard green did pass, In springtime, the only pretty ring time, When bees do sing, hey ding a ding, ding ; Sweet lovers love the spring.

Only a few apple blossoms remain on the trees at Hutchins Farm in Concord, Massachusetts, yesterday.  ¶  This photo bookends last week's image of an early blossom . The 90-degree weather in the forecast here will surely wring out any that remain.  ¶ 

The starting gun sounds for the 2022 apple season at Hutchins Farm in Concord, Massachusetts, yesterday.

LOVE THE ONES YOU'RE WITH Lemonade , above, is a right good apple, well balanced and eminently worth choosing . But the main reason I was glad to see this variety last month is geographic. My Lemonades grew in New Zealand and were picked in the spring. They are half a year fresher than the other apples in stores today. And, you can taste it.