Despite the dry season the apple trees, their roots drawing water from deep in the ground, have had a good year.

 

The Keswick Codlin has been dropping lots of windfalls but fruit are still packed tight along the branches.  This crisp, slightly lemony variety is pale green, flushed with yellow when ripe.

 

The Fortune look so pretty on the tree that it’s tempting to leave them a little longer. This aromatic variety is best eaten straight from the tree but the fruit will keep for a few weeks in a cool, dark place.

The apples in the headline photo look very similar but that tree is Katy. The background colour of the fruit – yellow rather than the Fortune’s green – is one way of telling them apart.  The flavour is distinctly different, maybe less subtle but sweet and very juicy.  Each variety has its own character.