Adam's Apples

This large yellow apple looks and smells like a Golden Delicious . It's perhaps a little more squat, and the blush, when there is one, is different, a streaky orange pink with a hint of copper. (Golden Delicious will blush if you let her, but the effect is more solid, like this .) The green lenticels are a little different as well. But the classic conical shape, the moderate ribbing, and the rich cider-and-honey aroma all suggest Golden D, in the family tree if not in the flesh. It has an open calyx and is quite firm.

Some of the urban farmers markets (Somerville, Boston, and elsewhere) will stay in business though Thanksgiving. But today, Halloween, marks the end of the market season in the suburbs. Belmont's farmers market ended today with a bit of seasonal rain. By the luck of the calendar, it usually falls to Belmont to ring out the end of the season. There were 25 different kinds of apples for sale there today. I am always sorry to see things end, but they do that this time of year. It was a splendid harvest .

Today was the final day of Arlington's farmers market for 2013 Yesterday was Lexington's seasonal farewell. Today was Arlington's turn in the low autumn sunshine. Tomorrow will be the last market in Belmont until 2014. The Davis Square market continues through Thanksgiving, but best to get there before dark. There was a great assortment of dollar-a-pound apples today. But make no mistake: The harvest is in, dusk is early, and winter is coming.

Medium-sized Sutton Beauty has a dark red blush, a little dull and a little streaky, speckled with small tan lenticels that are grouped mostly away from the deepest-blushed region. The peel is a lively spring green but nearly entirely covered. Sutton is classically shaped and has only a hit of ribbing visible at the base. In hand it is rock hard and has a strong aroma of sweet cider.

Many local farmers market close this week until next year. Lexington, shown, strikes its tents in just a few minutes. If you were there, you could have gotten many old favorites, as well as Ida Red and Arkansas Black . See you next year!

From the outside, here is the only way that Golden Blush is not like Blushing Golden: it's a lot bigger. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

This medium-sized apple (many quite small) is elongated and conical. The not-so hidden blush is a solid fuchsia-tinged red over yellow green, but there is also a thin peach-pink wash of blush, delicate and pretty, over much of the back and sides. Small light lenticels stand out against every background. In the right light they almost seem to glow. There's moderate ribbing, and a thick stem in a shallow stem well. The apple is rock hard with a sugary sweet aroma. Its calyx is shut and an unusually thick stem emerges from a shallow stem well.