Went to the last farmer's market of the season.
Went to the last farmer's market of the season. I may have bought some squash ... Got several different crosses and some of the usual. Stocked up on my favorite, Sweet Dumpling, which is a 1-2 serving sized squash that is naturally buttery and sweet. Nom. I bought so much, they gave me a free pie pumpkin :)
Also picked up some heritage apples. I picked these because they have awesome names. The one on the left is Esopus Spitzenberg, supposedly liked by Thomas Jefferson. The one on the right is Westfield Seek-No-Further. I believe both are American varieties from the 1700's.
Turns out, there are thousands of varieties of apple. Current science seems to indicate apples originated in Central Asia. Some sources say in the Tian Shan mountains near where Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and China come together. Seems to have done pretty well for itself over the past few thousand years.
I will report back on their relative merits. For Science!
Also picked up some heritage apples. I picked these because they have awesome names. The one on the left is Esopus Spitzenberg, supposedly liked by Thomas Jefferson. The one on the right is Westfield Seek-No-Further. I believe both are American varieties from the 1700's.
Turns out, there are thousands of varieties of apple. Current science seems to indicate apples originated in Central Asia. Some sources say in the Tian Shan mountains near where Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and China come together. Seems to have done pretty well for itself over the past few thousand years.
I will report back on their relative merits. For Science!
Spitzenberg! That is an awesome name. As far as Michiganders are concerned there may as well not be anything but Honeycrisp. Which honestly is kinda boring. (taste wise, I meant, but ALSO name wise, it occurs to me)
ReplyDeleteWhich one is the "sweet dumpling"? I want to try it.
ReplyDeleteBethany Willick ...really? You certainly can't make (decent) cider from Honeycrisp, they're too sweet. I thought cider was A Thing up there?
ReplyDeleteAmy Young well, they don't give the cider apples a name and sell them in bags in the grocery store!
ReplyDeleteThe honeycrisp are all the rage for eating, so that is what you see most in the markets. But the cider mills/orchards do other varieties.
ReplyDeleteUntil fancy cider, they used the reject apples in the cider presses. I know this from approximately eleventy billion school age field trip tours
ReplyDeleteBethany Willick Yeah, but unless I've got my timetables all askew, that was before Americans forgot there were more than like four kinds of apple.
ReplyDeleteThere always seem to have been regional preferences, but, yeah, more recently it seems like there's a trendy apple for a few years and then that's the dominant thing you can buy. I remember as a kid constantly being fed red delicious and thinking they were awful. I'm so glad there's this thing about bringing back different varieties! Plus, since cider has become a thing, as well, they are bringing back all sorts of cider apples, too! Obviously, I am easily entertained.
ReplyDeleteI will try to take some pictures specifically of the dumplings. They are hard to tell apart from some of the crosses between them and acorns, which I also got some of to see what they taste like.
ReplyDeleteThe dumplings have round ridges all the way around, not sort of pleat-like like acorns. Their bottoms tend to be a little indented, but can be relatively smooth, However, they are not pointed or smooth like acorns. They are a mottled green and cream, generally. Their insides always look sort of amber yellow to me, but I've seen it described as "gold" colored.
Gotcha.
ReplyDelete