Apple season has arrived! And we're so happy to be working with Scott Farm Orchards again this year. They grow a wonderful variety of ecologically grown heirloom apples, each one with it's own unique flavor, texture, and color. We hope you'll try them all!
This week we have Honey Crisp, Ginger Gold, and Gala. Ginger Gold is an early season apple that doesn't last for long, this is the final week they will be available. They make an incredibly smooth apple sauce that is a pure delight! If you feel overloaded with apples, try making applesauce with your Ginger Golds this week, it's so simple and satisfying.
Heirloom vs. Hybrids. Apples, and produce in general, are generally divided into two large categories- heirloom and hybrid. Many of the commercial apple varieties we see in grocery stores are hybrids combining the favorite attributes of various heirlooms - namely, predictable traits of size, color, transportability and storage life. Heirlooms, on the other hand, are open pollinated and have been preserved and passed along for generations in their “pure” form. In today’s commercial market, heirlooms might be less desirable as they can have funny shapes and unattractive colors (here’s looking at you, Knobbed Russet) and may only get sweet enough to eat out of hand after a few months in storage. But ultimately these heirloom varieties represent an incredible diversity of flavors, shapes, sizes, colors and genetic diversity that is so important to preserve.
