There are so many apple varieties most of us have never even heard of.  But how do you know which heirlooms to add to your orchard if you only have written descriptions to choose from?

Since heirloom apples are one of my obsessions, I keep trying to talk people into running apple tastings.  The apple gurus invariably guide me toward Monticello's annual apple tasting, but even though Jefferson gardened in the Virginia mountains just like me, I can't quite talk myself into 9 hours of driving (round trip) to taste his apples.

This week, I found another reason (besides the driving) to try to keep my apple tastings closer to home.  Our most vigorous apple tree is a Virginia Beauty, and a few years ago we found some Virginia Beauty apples at a fruit stand to taste.  They weren't anything to write home about, and I stopped being as interested in my own tree.  But this year, my Virginia Beauty finally produced fruits, a few of which cracked from heavy rains and ripened early.  I took the world's ugliest apple inside and ate it myself rather than trying to force Mark to overlook its blemishes...and the fruit was probably the tastiest apple I've ever eaten!

The experience made me rethink counting on anyone else's apples to give me even a vague impression of what a variety will taste like.  When an apple tree fights insects and diseases and is fed by rotten wood and horse manure, its fruits aren't going to taste anything like those beautiful, sprayed globes from a traditional orchard.  In fact, homegrown tastes much, much better.

So, I'm no longer yearning to attend an apple tasting.  However, if anyone wants to create an online heirloom apple CSA (just enough to taste of each variety coming in the mail the month each is ripe), I'll sign up in a heartbeat.