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.

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.

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.

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.

On the large side of small, James Grieve is round, oblate, and not significantly ribbed.  ¶  It sports a red blush tinted with orange, over yellow, streaky and variegated with indistinct boundaries for a blotchy effect, kind of festive. The lenticel dots are yellow spots.  ¶ 

I have two fire-engine-red RubyRush, medium and large. They are round with a little flattening at the poles.  ¶  A small less-blushed spot on the back is orange over yellow, and the shallow calyx well is yellow green, around an open calyx. Faint but noticeable lenticel dots add visual interest. The stem is thin and shares some color from the blush. No ribbing to speak of.

Today's apple is large, very tapered and modestly ribbed. It's colored with a mixture of an orange pink, yellow, and yellow green.  ¶  Yellow-green dots are small and fused together at the base, becoming larger and distinct further up. There's a green dimple on one side. It's really pretty, don't you think? That peachy color. Its calyx is closed.

Many apples develop a powdery bloom, which is actually some of the natural wax made by the fruit as it matures.  ¶  Today's photo (click for a closeup) shows both a bloom and the swath where the bloom was removed by a strip of masking tape that the grower, Jesse Downs, taped to the apple as an ID tag. The tag read "Smerelda," and this pretty, conical apple, with a partial pink-red blush neatly framed (in this view) by a fringe of green, is one of two from Jesse. They are small, and on has to look closely to detect the slight amount of ribbing.

These orange-tinged-red–blushed apples are wide and oblate, with tan lenticels that are occasionally filled in with something dark.  ¶  There is modest ribbing, and a wonderful sweet aroma. The peel is glossy and the underlying color is yellow.

I've got two medium sized green-yellow apples with complex patchy layers of russet and and small swaths of vermilion peeking through.  ¶  These are lightly ribbed, round, and oblate, with dark lenticel dots. One has some flyspeck. The russet looks like antique gold. They are rock hard.

What a marvelous name!  ¶  Derek Mills, who grew today's apples, says they run says medium to large. To prove it he sent me a medium and a large sample.  Good thing! because the first one I tried was decidedly  off. There were issues with both, but I think got a good idea about this apple.

These apples are in the small side of medium, classically shaped and moderately ribbed. There is a very dark red blush on one, covering a pale yellow. The dark blush nearly swallows the lenticels. On the other sample the blush is more of a brick red and displays large lenticels.  ¶ 

Chehalis is a light yellow-green apple blushed about half with a delicate translucent peach. It has a classical shape with a slight taper and barely detectible ribbing.  ¶  Lenticel dots are large and distinct, tiny brown-and-red bullseyes in the blush, a darker green dot elsewhere. Its calyx is slightly parted.