Day 77 - Snowsweet

This apple is smiling at me, sweet, Snowsweet!  I got this at Peck & Bushel Organic Fruit Co.  Organic fruit is often not pretty.  They have physical flaws and might not grow as big as their non-organic counterparts.  This flaw made for a happy little apple until I bit it's face off!

 I liked the Snowsweet.  I had to buy a half peck of them which is aprox. 5.6 lbs.  It is a sweet apple with a good tart balance.  It is crisp, the flesh is snow white.  They are also bred to be slow to brown.  That's cool, kind of like the Opal which was my Day 21 review. https://mikegrunertblog.blogspot.com/2017/03/day-21-opal.html.  I did extensive testing on the Opal, finding that a slice after 3 hours had little browning!  I didn't have a chance to do this test with the Snowsweet.  

Snowsweet is a late season apple.  It is a cross between a Sharon and a Connell Red.

While I'm writing this, I'm listening to Power Windows by Rush.  It is an album that I kind of ignored back in the day.  Power Windows came out in 1985.  I just discovered Rush around 1986 and gravitated immediately to all the cool progressive stuff of the 70's and early 80's.  Grace Under Fire, Power Windows and Hold Your Fire was the dark period for me, wanting the rock!

Being such a huge fan, I'm embarrassed to say I think this is the 1st time I've listened to this album all the way through but I'm digging it at the moment.  I was more familiar with live versions of the Power Windows songs in that half the tracks were on Rush's 1989 album, A Show of Hands, which I bought and listened to in high school.  It even got played on the radio at the time.  I would say now that Power Windows is my favorite of these 3 albums.  They seem to have their "new" sound more figured out than on Grace Under Fire.  Though there is a lot of keyboard and some electronic drums, the guitar is more in yer face and on Hold Your Fire, they were about to transition their sound a bit again and some of it, I was just like, blah.  I have mad respect for these MOFO's!

So to recap, Snowsweet is good, just not as good as fucking Rush! Next time, I review CrimsonCrisp, an apple with a cult following.  Could it be evil?  Crunch on!

Day 76 - Wolf River

Wolf River, could this be the official apple of my punk/metal band The Night Howls?  Read on...

It was September 2018.  I hadn't seen any new apples in a while and I was getting restless and borderline depressed.  I was hitting the sauce pretty hard and I don't mean apple sauce! (apple sauce review coming soon, one of the top requests from internal voice no.5)  I'm talking whiskey people, though sometimes apple whiskey.  I went on the world wide web and did some googling.  I discovered not too far from me was an apple orchard that looked intriguing and was indeed, intriguing, Peck & Bushel Organic Fruit Co. (see my Day 75 blog). https://mikegrunertblog.blogspot.com/2019/02/day-75-peck-bushel-organic-fruit-co.html

One of the apples I tried was the Wolf River.  It is a large, historic, antique variety originating from Wolf River, WI circa 1870.  The Wolf River is know as a good cooking apple with it's large size, ability to keep it's shape when exposed to extreme heat and does not require much extra sugar when cooking.

My experience was not that of a very good eating apple.  The skin was thick and somewhat bitter.  The white flesh looked nice but was a little mealy and lacked character.  

Even with it's cool title that compliments my band name, Wolf River cannot be the official apple of The Night Howls.  (though we really should have an official apple, hit me up with suggestions)  A good eating apple is essential to represent The Night Howls, one that is sweet and juicy, tart and floral, crisp and snappy.  It don't have to look pretty but must be so alluring that tasters cannot help but devour it to it's core in a ravenous rage with gnashing of teeth, screaming, convulsing and then topped off with a good belch!

Next time, I review Snowsweet, crunch on and rock!

Day 75 - Peck & Bushel Organic Fruit Co.

On September 29th, I visited Peck & Bushel Organic Fruit Co.  Located in Colgate, WI, just about 30 minutes from my place, I was all like what-what and cool man!  They are an all organic apple orchard started in 2010 by Joe and Jennifer Fahey who produce at least 25 varieties of apples throughout the season.  They are only open to the public August through October.  15 of the apple varieties they grew this year I had never even heard of so needless to say, I was apple curious for sure!  I will definitely go back next August as they only sell some of the apples for a limited time, see timeline below.  I only got to try 3 types of apples this year, the Wolf River, Snowsweet  and Crimsoncrisp, each of which will have a separate review.

Visitors can pick their own apples or buy them in the rustic, barn-like store along with other goodies.  We bought some apple cider and had some of the best apple cider donuts I have ever tried.

So there ya have it, Peck & Bushel Organic Fruit Co. is a great find, check it out southeast Wisconsinite apple lovers!  Next time, I review one of my purchases there, the Wolf River.  Crunch on!