Adam's Apples

A friend alerted me to a short broadcast about apples that aired on Boston's WGBH radio last month.  ¶  The focus was on New England apples. It's streamable any time and available as a podcast.  ¶  The April 27 episode of Under the Radar with Callie Crossley includes a 25-minute interview with Amy Traverso and Sean Turley that quickly gets into the good stuff.

With a name like an Old Timey singer (or perhaps contortionist), the Smoky Mountain Limbertwig sports a beautiful deep red blush.  ¶  That color nearly covers all of the otherwise green-tinged yellow peel of these medium-to-large apples.  ¶  The apple is only moderately ribbed, and there are tiny light lenticels scattered in the glossy blush.

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.

These are small apples, barely bigger than crabs, with a deep red blush (streaky in spots) that covers a dull yellow-green.  ¶  They are mostly tapered and elongated, though there is variation, and are only slightly ribbed. Their shape is a little reminiscent of the larger Black Gilliflower's .  ¶  Swaths of what I think is the thinnest russeting I have ever seen show on small regions of some of these small apples.

I have 3 small apples from Moldova.  ¶  Other than that, no information. They could be a Moldovan cultivar, a chance seedling, or a variety that originated elsewhere. They are ribbed and oblate with a slight taper. Calyx open, color a very green tinted yellow with a patchy, streaky partial red blush.  One must peer at them closely to see the lenticels, even in the blush where they are small light dots. They sport a glossy peel. These have a very rich aroma of sweet cider.

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.

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.

In Derek Mills' opinion, there was something off about my 2015 description of the Cornish Aromatic .  ¶  So he reached into his living museum of 1,600 apple varieties , sent me two Aromatics, and asked me to try again. Happy to oblige.

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.

Today's apple, Ohlson, arrived in rough shape, with many bruises.  ¶  It is a cylindrical apple with a base broader than its top, a yellow apple with orange-red specks and vertical streaks that look like red oil floated onto the peel in water.  It is possible to distinguish the lenticels, faintly, in the unblushed regions. There is a small amount of ribbing. 

This medium-sized apple has a subdued red blush over spring green, washed out in spots. It is ribbed and from the top describes an imperfect square.  ¶  A stubby stem sits in a shallow well, and in the blush one must peer closely, and in bright light, to see the many tiny light lenticels. Its calyx is closed tight. Northpole feels firm in hand. Let's check out what lies within.

My sample of this antique apple comes not from the St. Lawrence valley, where it may have originated, but from western Washington.  ¶  Red vertical stripes, some deep and saturated, radiate from the stem well of this visually striking apple. They contrast with Saint Lawrence's otherwise pale yellow-green peel. Many small red flecks mix in with darker lenticel dots.

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.

I have three of these extremely flattened beauties from Mike, a reader in Southern California. They are green and blushed, with pronounced ribbing and short thick stems.

Keim is German for "sprout."  ¶  This apple proved unusual in several ways.  ¶  You can see the very different shapes that are possible, one very oblate but only modestly ribbed, and the other a bit stocky and with ribbing so pronounced as to produce a distinct crease. Despite the differences in shape, the apples share a small wash of red-orange blush over a very yellow spring green. The blush includes saturated spots of red pigment haphazardly at some of the lenticels.

Today's russet apple wears a jacket of brown with olive tones, rich and warm.  That covers the entire apple. But one sample has an unrussetted patch that shows a subdued red blush over what is probably green. That blush is faintly filtered through perhaps half of the russeted area. These are oblate and medium-sized, with many lenticels raised slightly from the surface.