Finally, after 10 years, fall.

[kickaha]

ginkgo lured me out of the house this morning with promise of a fun outing... and boy did she deliver.

We went apple picking.

Now I know, for most of you, this is probably going to sound like about the most boring thing possible, but I grew up in apple orchards, and surrounded by fruit orchards of various kinds. I took for granted fresh fruit on hand from June through October, and dammit, I miss it. I miss the scents, the changing of growing things, and it's just familiar and comforting.

We drove out west to a place outside of Warwick, NY, which was $20/bag for you-pick of various varieties. We came back with a 22lb bag of Cortlands, Empires, Jonagolds, Macouns, and a few Mutsu and Romes that are just *incredible*. I hadn't run across Macouns before - they have a deep ruby skin, snow white flesh, a 3-4" diameter on a slightly flattened sphere, and are just outstanding. The Romes are going to be set aside for baking, since they're not great for eating, but the rest we're going to have to figure out how to plow through while they're still fresh. Darn.

If you've never had an apple fresh from the tree, you've never had an apple, in my opinion - there are subtleties of taste and texture that fade within hours of picking, and not even the most careful controlled atmosphere cold storage can keep them from fading. I've had what, four or five today?

I spent a couple of hours just enjoying walking among the trees, sitting in the grass, and *smelling*... it was amazingly relaxing. What used to be a regular part of the transition from summer to winter, and a large part of the fabric of my growing up, has been absent, and I didn't realize that I've been holding my breath all these years for it to show up again.

Afterwards, we went driving around the county, and visited the Warwick Valley Winery - definitely a place to revisit when it isn't jampacked with bobos in Lexus SUVs... oh, not to mention the limo. While the first orchards were a semi-working orchard (they weren't cultivated for commercial production, they were optimized for producing as much fruit of whatever variety possible, since the *ahem* amateurs flocking in to pick will just grab whatever they think looks good - which usually isn't what would fetch the highest market price... the trees looked like they hadn't been properly thinned or pruned in a long while), this was a showcase orchard for rich folks to go have a glass of wine in. Which isn't a *bad* thing, just not my scene when it's stuffed to the gills with said folks. A weekday visit is a must though... they have a good local reputation for wines, and they just started a new distillery that looks fabulous. I am currently enjoying a Bourbon Barrel Aged Apple Port, and it is *every* bit as good as it sounds. Truly ephemeral mix of flavors, jumping from fine scotch to fresh apples, and everything in between.

Thanks hon, I've been waiting years for fall to arrive, and today, it did.

Comments

[herithoth.livejournal.com]

I just finished reading Michael Pollan's "Botany of Desire" and he includes a section on the apple and the real story behind Johhny Appleseed. He was a mixture of hippie and mystic who planted apple seeds for the colonists to make applejack with and meet their homesteader's quota with. He discusses all the heirloom varieties grown to optimize shipment to England, flowering time, different purposes, etc.

Pollan mentioned a place in Geneva New York called the Plant Genetic Resources Unit run by Dr. Phillip Forsline http://www.ars.usda.gov/Main/site_main.htm?modecode=19-10-05-00 that grows all kinds of wild apples from Kazakstan where apples originated. They are the archive site for plant germplasm in the U.S. Pollan was able to wander around looking at apples that looked like olives, forsythia, potatoes, Brazil nuts, and golf balls. As someone who has grown up around apples that lives in New York state you probably would really get a kick out of visiting. Plus they will let you take some seeds home as long as you report back if the trees produce fruit with desirable qualities. I'd love to visit this place if I was close by.

[kickaha.livejournal.com]

Okay, that's going on the road trip list. Thanks! :)

We did get one giggle - this weekend is/was Warwick's AppleFest, and they had the obligatory tourist pamphlets scattered about, with a guide to apples. Which ones are best for eating, which for cooking, etc.

The entry for Red Delicious said "Good to use in a centerpiece of holiday wreath!" which nicely sums up my feelings about the variety. It looks gorgeous, but they're generally tasteless and have poor texture. In fact, the Red Delicious was originally bred for one basic trait - to stand up without rolling over. The five points on the bottom are prominent enough to act as a pentapod and keep it stable. Then they kept breeding it for sweetness, and the durability in shipping was a bonus. Voila. Instant mass market apple. Bleah.

[herithoth.livejournal.com]

I agree. I try to look for the most tart varieties since they seem to have more complex taste, but even Granny Smith (named for an old Australian grandma that discovered the variety was good for baking) has been bred to get sweeter in the last decade. So it's getting harder to find ones that aren't sweet. I tend to go for Macintosh, Pink Lady, or Braeburn at Harris Teeter. I got some very ugly looking but tasty apples from the Carrboro Farmer's market last week to prove that beauty doesn't equal good taste. We also got some up in the VA mountains and they didn't last very long in my hands. I learned where the phrase "rotten to the core" came from. I've heard that juicing apples produces very different juices depending on which variety you use. I haven't tried this yet, but we do have a Juiceman so maybe I'll have to try.