2025 has certainly been a remarkable year for apples here in Great Britain - a genuine mast year. Several newspapers have reported as much and people with apple trees in their gardens agree that this year has been quite special.
We have five old apple trees in our garden which we have looked out upon for thirty six years. Throughout that time, the four big trees have given us lots of green cooking apples each autumn. But this year something very odd has happened because the apples that hang from those selfsame trees have turned red for the very first time. (see picture above)
Scientists might explain that perfect growing conditions with plenty of summer sunshine will often trigger much greater production of a red pigment called anthocyanin and that seems to be what has happened to our apples.
In all previous years, our apples have been so tart they would make you wince. They have only been good for pies, crumbles and apple sauce - all requiring the addition of sugar. In spite of that history, today I thought I would try one of this year's red apples and sure enough I could eat it without squirming.
Though not quite as sweet as many modern eating varieties, the level of sweetness was more than acceptable and I carried on to eat the whole thing.
When it comes to apples, I might have to wait another thirty six years for a similar mast year. I will be 108 years old when that crop arrives.
That's a weird one. There are ideas as to what may have happened to the tree, but nobody knows.
ReplyDeleteWe can only surmise.
DeleteMy daughter's apple tree (at my rental property) was loaded with apples also. I picked some and am planning to make an apple crisp, one of my favorite desserts. As a Washingtonian, I'm quite finicky about my apples although I do like them on the tarter side. My favorite is the Cosmic Crisp--never had a bad one!
ReplyDelete"Cosmic Crisp" sounds like a mind-bending drug Margaret.
DeleteI planted a variety called Zester and they are sweet and crunchy. We bought a bag of apples with us back from BC a couple of weeks ago, Honeycrisp apples, and those are sweet and juicy. Nothing like a good apple.
ReplyDeleteThat is exactly what Eve said to Adam.
DeleteI am eating a lovely red apple right now as my late lunch.
ReplyDeleteAnd I am glad that I am not hearing it.
DeleteFrom what I observe on my walks, apples have been doing very well here, too. Similarly, nuts, chestnuts (both the edible and non-edible varieties), acorns and other fruit and seeds from trees seem to be abundant this year - definitely a mast year.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't have thought that apples can be so different from the same tree under different conditions!
Re. your last comment - I wouldn't have thought it either but now I have the evidence - both in colour and taste.
DeleteIt has definitely been a year of bumper crops here too. Our apples have been the best yet.
ReplyDeleteYours looks pretty scrumptious
The Lord must have been happy with us for some reason... or maybe he felt sorry for us this year.
DeleteThat apple looks delicious. Not being a great fan of apples apart from those that are tart, like Granny Smith, I can't comment on how abundant the apple crop is this year. Does this mean, as with berries on bushes, that we're in for a hard winter?
ReplyDeleteI think that's an old wives' tale Carol. Err... you're not an old wife are you?
DeleteNot a lover of apples but I would like an apple tree in the garden.
ReplyDeleteI can send you some pips Cap'n.
DeleteWe have too many. Nobody wants them - they all have loads themselves.
ReplyDeleteMany of ours end up being composted.
DeleteYou are right about this year. Also a wonderful season for chestnuts. Went to a National Trust property last week. Walking through the woods the ground was strewn (good word that) with chestnuts. We came home with a nice bag full of them. We did ask for permission. Have been roasting them off on top of the wood burner. Delicious.
ReplyDeleteYes "strewn" is a good word. Funnily enough, we picked a bag of sweet chestnuts in Clumber Park near Worksop a couple of weeks back.
DeleteAn apple a day ... or so they say.
ReplyDeleteAn apple a day... hip hip hooray.
DeleteI was raised to believe that green apples were unripe and shouldn't be eaten. I never have liked green apples.
ReplyDeleteAnd they my friend have never liked you!
DeleteI doubt you'll have the teeth to eat apples in thirty-six years so enjoy them now while you can.
ReplyDeleteLOL
DeleteI feel I am being ganged up on by a pair of MAGAts.
DeleteMaybe global warming has its advantages. You were brave to eat an uncooked cooking apple though.
ReplyDeleteMy guess was right. The redness did signal sweetness. I guess you are red all the time Addy.
DeleteInteresting! I didn't know climate variations could affect the flavor of an apple so much -- not to mention the color.
ReplyDeleteIt was a big surprise to me too.
DeleteExtraordinary, but how lovely. A dessert apple straight from the tree tastes wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI wished Zach a happy birthday in answer to your blog post yesterday, but it disappeared into the ether. So, Happy Birthday to Zach for Friday . . . 🎂🎈🎁
Thank you Janice. I hope that I did not inadvertently ditch your comment.
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