Adam's Apples

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.

Which of these apples is a 150-year-old heirloom? is from a local (Massachusetts) orchard? is commonly sold in supermarkets and grocery stores across North America? If you've been reading my blog you know the answer. You also know that this is a trick question.

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.

Back from a quick trip to the Pioneer Valley (Massachusetts), where I got a bag of Gold Rush , some interesting ciders (hard and sweet ), and this photo. Shown: The emblem of Clarkdale Fruit Farm in Deerfield.

"Last day of market" in Davis Square, Somerville, today. The American Thanksgiving is tomorrow, which means that the urban markets here ended today.

Take number 2, this time with a local Red Delicious. America gets its fruit at the supermarket, and that determines what we eat and what farmers grow. So I thought it fair and reasonable to compare these apples using a store-bought Red Delicious. Which I did .

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.