Adam's Apples

They are tiny, which perhaps explains how I missed these Wickson apples at the back of my produce drawer.  ¶  They do not have the most hopeful appearance, but I had to try them.  ¶  Verdict: Surprisingly good, though but a shadow of their best.

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.

Little Wickson catches the breeze with a particularly magnificent Macoun .

This head-to-head became inevitable the moment I first tasted malty Frostbite. Wickson has some similar flavors and qualities, and both make weighty historical claims. One thing that might not be obvious from my photo is that these apples are both small. Frostbite is about 2 inches in diameter, and Wickson is a large crabapple. But which is best?

Left to right: Reine de Reinettes, Ashmead's Kernel, Macoun, Wickson, Cox's Orange Pippin The gang's all here. All 5 of the apples I've rated as "exceptional, worth a quest"—3 of 3 possible stars—together in one place.

With Gingergold towering behind, diminutive Wickson (left front) and Chestnut crabs do-si-do in early September. (Alas, wonderful Wickson was harvested much too early.)

Tiny, flavorful Wickson poses with beautiful, placid Opalescent in today's photo. I esteem both of these apples. It's a sign of the times that you could have gotten these at urban farmers markets this year, without visiting orchard country.

There's no compelling reason for today's side-by-side comparison. Wickson (L) and King David (R) are both small apples

Flushed with the success of my last odd-couple comparison, I again explore a match between two unlikely partners. Lady Alice began as a chance seedling while tiny Wickson is the product of an inspired breeding cross. Nonetheless the two varieties overlap in color, texture, and taste to suggest the possibility of an amiable pairing. In particular, Alice has an unusual malt note and the same “nibble it down to the core” quality I found in Wickson. Lady Alice is an attractive medium-sized apple, slightly ribbed, with a streaky blush over yellow tinted with a little green. The lenticels are large and evenly spaced. Wickson's blush is a deeper cherry red, but similar, over a similar yellow and, like Lady Alice, with some translucent wash and darker saturated streaks. Tiny Wickson's shape is also similar, with a little ribbing...

"Is that a really tiny apple or a really big cherry?"—my daughter's reaction to Wickson, which is either a small apple or a large crab.  ¶  With its bright saturated red blush (over a yellow not unlike that of a Rainier cherry ), round, slightly elongated shape, and long stem, this small apple bears more than a passing resemblance to that fruit. Its skin is glossy and the small fruit is firm.  ¶  Wickson has coarse light-yellow flesh that is juicy and wonderfully crisp. It is well-balanced, tartness predominating but tempered by sugar, and with distinct malt-sugar notes. This is not a flavor I have encountered in any other apple and I wonder what kind of cider these would produce. In any case they make an excellent snack, full of snap and spice —but each is just a few bites. I found myself gnawing every eatable scrap of these little gems. Trees of Antiquity says ...