Adam's Apples

No longer a flower and not yet a fruit, may each proto-apple grow into fall's bounty. This May 25 close up shows the same trees as this earlier view (May 13) at Nagog Hill Farm.

Apples bloom at Nagog Farm on May 13. Where last year's blossoms came early, this year the orchards are just approaching peak by mid-May. A week of cool wet weather has settled in over much of New England; let's hope the blossoms stick around long enough to let wind and bees do their thing.

Elaine Luck, a collector and dealer of vintage postcards, sent me this delightful image and asked me a question about it that I could not answer. Elaine wants to know the meaning of the card and the significance of "Miss Baldwin." She says the card, which was mailed in 1914, was part of a printed set of Halloween postcards.

Empire I found myself leaning heavily on Empires this month, still in good form after half a year in cold storage. The flavor intensities of these apples varied, depending I suppose on how they had been stored and handled. Smartfresh, a widely used gas that blocks fruit-ripening (by suppressing ethylene), has the side effect of diluting flavor, though this wears off. April is typically when the harvest in the Southern Hemisphere comes north. These apples are six months fresher than fall's crop, though both undergo cold storage in controlled atmospheres before they arrive in supermarkets here in North America.

Sunday was the inaugural planting for the Boston Tree Party's plan to plant 100 heirloom apple trees in the Greater Boston area. As reported in the Boston Globe, the group planted a Golden Russet and a Grimes Golden on the Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston, in a ceremony presided over by New Hampshire orchardist Michael Phillips.

Orange Pippin is calling on fruit-tree growers worldwide to mark the dates of this year's blossom season in the UK-based web site's database. The effort to document blossoming takes on special significance in light of last year's unusual growing season and the threat of climate change. Join the database by opening a free account at Orange Pippin's Tree Register page.

Empire March is depressingly far from last October's harvest or July's early apples, but there are consolations. Compared to February, I found some prime Empires and Piñatas. No sign of lovely Lady Alice here this year, alas. But March is also where I empty out the bottom drawer of my refrigerator and have my last taste of fall. As previously related, for instance, I had my last Winter Banana on March 19. This spring cleaning invariably exhumes a few surprises, one or two apples I thought I was finished with.