This is How I Like Them Apples

I'm reading Apple: A History of Canada's Perfect Fruit by Carol Martin. I'm still at the beginning, but it's a great story of the apple, wild and cultivated, including which varieties were native to Canada and how different varieties got here. So that naturally led to more googling, and I found the following (emphasis mine):

From Apple Journal regarding Red Delicious:

The most controversial and widely distributed American apple. Red Delicious stores and ships so well, while retaining its shiny deep-red good looks, that it is sold in every possible state of internal disintegration. Too often, store bought Reds are little more than cardboard flavored, mealy mush beneath their glamorous skin. Still, Americans continue to buy it more than all other varieties combined. It can be a pretty good apple under the right conditions. Look for locally grown apples in season, and don't insist on a uniformly dark red color, and the chances of getting a better apple will improve in your favor. Many growers are now growing strains that have been developed more for flavor than for looks. Don't defeat their efforts by rejecting apples that don't look as though they came from a plastic injection molding machine. Remember this simple rule- art is a matter of visual esthetics and food is a matter of taste- not the other way around.

The problem is now the consumers of Red Delicious (whoever they are) are used to seeing perfect-looking shiny fruit. Re-introducing a more Delicious, but less Red apple will likely be an uphill battle.

Apple Journal seems to be somewhere between a trade journal and a promotional site. At any rate, I couldn't agree more with the description above. I never buy Red Delicious, partly 'cause they're too sweet, but mostly 'cause there's no way to tell a good from a bad one. Too much googling and now I'm daydreaming about orchards full of heirloom strains like Snow and Court Pendu Plat.

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Update: More on the "Keep Calm" poster soon!

The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair

Cows of all colours? Fowls of all feathers? Giant pumpkins and sheaves of wheat? Yes, yes, and yes! And don't forget the Horse Show and the Super Dogs!

The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair starts tomorrow and I'm excited!

I may go tomorrow if I feel like braving the weekend crowds, or I may go on a weekday evening.

What's the allure? Besides my delusion that I would have made a good pioneer or frontierswoman (blame Laura and Black Creek Pioneer Village), it's a good way to remember how much work goes into feeding you. (And who doesn't need to look at those furry Clydesdale hooves at least once a year?)

I keep one pair of "mucky boots" for just this occasion, as after a visit to the Fair, my boots smell like manure forever.

If you're in the area, you should go!

This post will be much much more convincing once I fill it with cow photos.

Powerbook Power Adapter

From The Consumerist:

A class action Suit for faulty Powerbook power adaptors has been launched.

You mean, like the faulty one that I had replaced under Applecare? And the other two I've had to buy 'cause the other side constantly warps in the jack? It didn't even occur to me that this would be a class action suit. Interesting.

Spartans and Russets and Spys, Oh My!

It's been a weird summer in Toronto. Not much heat. But now that Autumn's here, we can get to the fun stuff: apple picking!

Chudleigh's has realized that to turn a profit, they must expand. They have a petting zoo and hay rides, and a shop for knick-knacks and apple-related food stuffs. They've had these things for a while. Unfortunately, they are now calling themselves an "Entertainment Farm". A terrible term, it impinges on my urbanite fantasy of escaping to the farm for a day. If you call it an Entertainment Farm, I expect you are growing tap dancers, or have violinists in trees waiting to serenade us as we pick. Or possibly, Guitar Hero in the barn - I don't know. (And I'm not even considering the lewd options there - I leave that to you.)

I supposed I should just be happy they didn't call it "Farmetainment".

My favourite apples-from-the-tree are Spartans. They are crisp and tart-sweet and divine and NOTHING like the mushy Macintoshy "Spartans" you get in the stores.

A note for those to whom I've promised apples: neither Fuji nor Russett are in season yet - sorry!