Adam's Apples

There are some great farmers markets near me, and in season they are the source of most of the fruit I eat. You never know what new apples, or old favorites, might show up there.  ¶  All of the apples for sale, by date, from July to the end of the outdoor markets in November of 2024. It's from this spreadsheet .  ¶  For the past few years I've reported regularly (with a few gaps) about all of them. It is kind of thrilling to track the harvest as it unfolds, and to feel through that the solemn turning of the year from summer to winter.

The last farmers market of the year ends in the rain, as it seems to do  so often .

The scene at the Union Square (Somerville) farmers market earlier today.

The apple crop ends here, at the Copley Square (Boston) Farmers Market the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. The apples have been picked over leaving only these sorry bruised remains. See you next year!

French markets are like ours. Only different. At the Marché Saint-Antoine, on the Presque Isle bank of the Saône River in Lyon, the farmers and food artisans set up their stalls six mornings a week.

The warning is clear at Hutchins Farm in Concord, Massachusetts, last weekend.

The Somerville (Mass.) Armory Behind this fantastic urban facade is a winter farmers market that sells apples. Inside is a lively scene that includes produce, baked goods, and a cafe. The market is open on Saturdays from 9:30 until 2 at the old armory on Highland Avenue in Somerville ( map ).

It rained on the last farmers market in Davis Square, Somerville, today. Here in the Boston area the last remaining farmers markets call it quits the day before Thanksgiving. That's today, and it poured. Some regular Davis Square vendors decided not to bother. Nonetheless there were 11 different varieties of apples for sale today.

Some of the wealth at Copley Square Cities draw good things to eat, as farmers bring their crops to where the people are. So, my first trip to Boston's Copley Square Farmers Market  yesterday was long overdue. There I found 30 varieties of apples for sale, including two that were wholly new to me (reviews forthcoming). This market is open for business on Tuesdays and Fridays from 11 am to 6 pm from mid May until Thanksgiving. Tuesday November 26 is the last day this year.

Kimball Farm slings the fruit in Davis Square earlier today in November's fading light. Farmers market is done as of today. In Davis Square, two growers had but five apple varieties to rub between them: Jonagold , Cortland , Brock , McIntosh , Empire , and Fuji . Have a great winter! Farmers market resumes in June.

Many area farmers markets close for the year in the week leading up to Halloween. Arlington's farmers market took its curtain call yesterday, when 3 vendors offered 13 varieties of apples. Kimball Farm, above, sold 10 of them. Kimball will continue in Davis Square and some other locations through Thanksgiving.

When I took a half-day off today to ride my bike in the crisp fall breeze, I left my knapsack at home. No apples today, I thought. Instead I found a new (to me) variety ("Rusty Sweet," watch for it in a future review), more illicit Sweetangos , and some of the darkest, most beautiful Arkansas Blacks I have personally seen. Those Blacks are from Red Apple Farm at Lexington's farmers market . Red Apple will be there for one more week next Tuesday.

Yesterday, Volante Farms in Needham, Mass. was selling an astounding 28 varieties of apples, while they last. If you live in eastern Massachusetts, go there now.

"We're freezing out here."—Overheard today at farmers market. It didn't snow, but the last day of farmers market in Belmont was bleak and raw. Belmont followed the end of Arlington, which followed Lexington for the year this week.

The past fortnight has been tremendous for apples. At Farmers Market you can choose from more than a score varieties, and many unexpected heirlooms have cropped up in the hinterlands. Some choices at the Belmont market yesterday This week there were 23 different apples for sale at the Arlington Farmers Market, 26 in Belmont. But this sustained, ecstatic crescendo masks a profound shift. In a week most of the harvest will be in and these markets will have folded their tabernacles for the year. The haul in Belmont yesterday: Baldwin , Cameo , Cortland , Empire , Fuji ,  Gala , Gingergold , Golden Delicious , Golden Russet , Granny Smith ,  Honeycrisp , Jonagold , Jonathan , Liberty , Macoun , McIntosh , Melrouge , Mutsu , Paula Red , Red Delicious , Shamrock , Sister of Fortune ,  Spencer , Stayman , and Swiss Gourmet. Get them while you can.

Today I could have bought 26 different kinds of apples at 4 different farm stands. 28 if you count all 3 versions of Cortland as separate varieties. I was not so extravagant as that, but the choices this time of year are great!

Bins of apples at Volante Farms ( map ) earlier today. On the menu: Gravenstein , Gingergold , Empress , Jersey Mac, Paula Red , and Zestar .

Just as Massachusetts celebrates Farmers Market Week come fears that there are too many markets. Writing from Western Mass. for the New York Times, Katie Zezima reports that in some parts of the country farmers complain of a glut of markets. Some farmers say small new markets have lured away loyal customers and cut into profits. Other farmers say they must add markets to their weekly rotation to earn the same money they did a few years ago, reducing their time in the field and adding employee hours.

A mile north of Concord's historic rude bridge that arched the flood where, in Emerson's words, once th' embattled farmers stood, And fired the shot heard round the world. is Hutchins Farm, an organic farm with a small but diverse orchard. I have been eating, and reviewing, apples from these trees for the past month.

What impressed me first about this little farm stand was the hand-written note warning that the Macouns were "not at peak" yet. (That was in early September: the Macouns have been pretty wonderful for the past month.) Since then Brigham has surprised me with several unusual varieties. But the sign signals a respect both for apples and the people who appreciate them.