Adam's Apples

Yes that's snow! March 9 at Hutchins Farm in Concord, Massachusetts.  ¶  Temperatures here shot up from the 20s to the 70s (Fahrenheit) in the past week, so I hopped on my bicycle and peddled through the melt to Concord.

I begin 2026 with a refrigerator full of apples, and a number of half-finished blog posts and ideas from 2025. Several things, including some delightful travel, kept me away from this blog this fall.  ¶  Photo:  A Bramley's Seedling takes in the view from the walls of Edinburgh Castle.

GOING FOR THE GOLD Hint: These are not Granny Smith.  ¶  They are Golden Delicious .

Arkansas Black and Blushing Golden flank each other in the January snow.  ¶  In January, with the harvest long ended, I typically turn to groceries and supermarkets for apples to eat.

Apple trees slumber in the late December sunshine yesterday at Hutchins Farm in Concord, Massachusetts.

I've tasted Reinette Clochard only once before and was mightily impressed with it.  ¶  Time for a second bite.

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

Today's weather is brought to you by the lovely, lustrous, and ligneous Arkansas Black .

Not a bad year for an apple blog that was supposed to end in 2009! (That was the original idea .) I got to review 17 apples in 2022 , in large part thanks to the generosity of readers.

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.

If winter comes, can spring be far behind?

This week I have augmented my hoard of apples with two pecks of winter fruit. With some gaps, I expect my supply to take me through to April. The acquisitions are a half peck each of Cripps Pink ("Pink Lady" to you) and Blushing Golden , and a whole peck of GoldRush .

There was an apple I wanted to know more about. So, last September, I asked about it at the orchard's store. That's when it happened. "There's this website," the woman behind the counter told me, apple fan to apple fan.  "Adam's Apples." That had never happened to me before. It was kind of cool.

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.

Honeycrisp  fresh off the tree is popular and prized. How does it fare four months later?

With this, my tenth new year's message, I send my very best wishes for the year to come. I cannot, however, help but share a troubling statistic with you. This year I only found three apples to add to my opinionated catalog . Apple Reviews by Year 2008–18 Year published refers to the year of the canonical review, which in a few cases is later than an earlier review of the same variety; such earlier reviews are not included. I find it hard to imagine what this blog would be without new apples to sample and share.

Although others have asked about my refrigerator , it isn't really a back door to Narnia . There's nothing special about it. But on Monday, when I went hunting for my last review apple of the year, I found some surprises.