There’s a saying I love:
“Everything is going along nicely and then you drop a jar of apple sauce”.
Similarly, you could say, “Everything is going along nicely and then you discover another bag of apples on your doorstep”.
… 60 pounds of apples represent a mountain of creativity and work ahead.
I have on my kitchen counter right this minute an ocean of apples, about 60 pounds, I reckon. Sounds delicious, but those 60 pounds represent a mountain of creativity and work ahead. I’ve got to transform them into something else as I can’t eat ‘em all and I can’t store ‘em all.
Photo credit: Jane Macdougall
I figure there are at least five varieties of apples in those 60 pounds. All of these apples are from different trees, the apple trees of neighbours, friends and relatives. Evidently, the summer of 2023 produced a bumper crop. My own apple tree – a grafted triple variety apple tree – died a few years ago. As did my Italian plum, my fig tree and my peach tree. They all drowned. Yes, it’s possible, according to Brian Minter, master gardener of Minter Country Garden Centre, for a tree to drown. Turns out the water table at my place is too high for fruit trees. I’m on a clay escarpment and, although fruit trees will limp along for a few years, their roots rot and they succumb to a watery grave.
I recognized one of the apples on my countertop as a Northern Spy apple.
I recognized one of the apples on my countertop bounty as a Northern Spy apple. I only recognized it as we’d had a Northern Spy apple tree when I was a kid. It’s been years since I’ve seen, let alone eaten, a Northern Spy. They’re not a commercially grown variety but I sure wish they were. This variety is exceptionally juicy and a little on the tart side. Its tartness, along with its thin skin that verges toward green, are the primary reasons commercial growers tend to steer clear of cultivating the Northern Spy. Today’s market wants them thick skinned, red and sweet.
When I was a kid I used to eat about four or five apples a day. It didn’t matter what variety, I loved them all. But then something happened. My love of apples didn’t change, but, slowly, apples started to disappoint. There was no longer the crisp crunch of that first bite, nor the firm, satisfying texture that had me devouring the apple right down to its core. An apple might look tremendously appealing, but many of them ended up in the compost bin, half-eaten.
Turns out I wasn’t imagining the diminishing allure of the apple. Lots of people have the same complaint. The culprits behind the downturn in apple satisfaction are manifold.
… the diminishing allure of the apple.
First and foremost, today’s commercially grown apple has to be thick-skinned enough to satisfy shipping concerns. Next up, the ‘come hither’ appeal of an apple is a baseline consideration. Growers will favour a cosmetically appealing apple over a good-tasting apple because, well, because people see better than they think. Rising temperatures are also affecting the way apples taste.
A recent forty year study revealed significant changes in the beloved Fuji apple. A team of researchers gathered data from the Nagano and Aomori prefectures in Japan that developed the Fuji apple, and discovered that the hardness and acidiity of Fuji apples had declined over the past decades but sweetness had risen. Warmer spring temperatures had resulted in earlier flowering and that factor alone was creating differences in the crop, in particular affecting the sugar content. Although the change has been gradual, today’s Fuji apple is a sweeter, but mealier apple.
Here’s a look at the super simple apple cake I’ve been churning out from my kitchen in order to make use of my apple bounty.
Make sure to check out the recipe here!
So, I’m busy making apple pies, apple loaves, apple jelly and a killer apple cake, a recipe I stumbled upon and will put it up on my website. I’ve set aside the Northern Spy apples, however, as they’re just too good to tamper with. I sure hope I can figure out whose backyard those apples came from so I can put my name down for next year’s crop – best apple I’ve had in a long time.
This week’s question for readers:
DID THINGS TASTE BETTER WHEN YOU WERE A KID? HAVE YOU NOTICED A CHANGE IN APPLES OR OTHER PRODUCE?
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Submissions to last week’s question:
WHAT ARE YOUR TIRE TALES OF WOE?
I am just one more person who has experienced ultra annoying/aggravating/infuriating destruction of perfectly good (and expensive) tires due to a myriad of screws and nails left by construction sites/workers on lower mainland roads. Thank you for your excellent article about this!!!
Deborah Phelan
How about if ALL municipal vehicles, including garbage trucks, had magnets on their undercarriage? They’re driving around anyway and they could be performing this hugely needed service. City Hall, are you listening?
A. Downing
I guess that I’m a really lucky fellow because I have a motorcycle, two cars and a truck and tandem trailer for a total of 18 tires on the road. I can’t remember the last time I had a nail-related puncture. Lucky me. When my niece recently had a nail puncture the dealer said she needed a new tire. I told her to have a tire shop put a patch on the interior. Standard repair if there’s no sidewall damage.
I’m hoping that your article doesn’t reinforce the notion that a nail puncture is a death sentence for a tire.
Ron Payne
As we headed out from Vancouver on the Labour Day holiday Monday we got a flat tire on the freeway near Langley (yes, from a nail). We found a towing company but tire shops were either closed or all booked. Fortunately, we found BC Mobile Tire Change on our smart phone and they promptly came to our rescue and replaced the two back tires with good used ones (they purchase tires from vehicles written-off). Our road trip was saved – what a blessing and it only cost us $450.
Carrie Beavington
I have repaired countless tires with nails in them, the preferred method being a patch over the much quicker “plug” system. As long as the nail is in the tread area not the sidewall, it should be repairable … unless you have someone who just wants to sell you a tire!
Tom Meredith
Having had two flats from nails – well, one was a long screw – I was delighted to think the Magnet Dragnet might come and clean up our roads. Construction sites need to make this matter a priority.
Jorge Cross