North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Doc Lisenby <longdistshtr@shtc.net>]

I agree with Lucky, that a lot of RD apples I have bought in chain grocery 
stores are less than appealing to my taste.  Since medical school, I have 
been eating any apple I could obtain every day, not necessarily for the 
taste or texture, but for nutritional reasons.  I consider them part of my 
normal grocery staples.
Recently, I obtained about one ten pound bag biweekly of Washington Extra 
Fancy Premium Red Delicious Apples from Sam's Club.  The bag is labeled that 
they are a minimum of 3" in diameter and they are distributed by Domex, 
Yakima, WA 98908.  It also states that they are coated with a vegetable 
shellac/wax to preserve freshness. These apples are crisp and sweet tasting. 
The only complaint I have about them is that they are too large to eat for 
me to eat at one meal.  There are no labels on individual apples which 
describe whether they genetically modified, etc.  I suppose that such 
labeling isn't required for apples which aren't sold to the general public. 
I have noticed that before I finish eating all the apples of an individual 
bag that they begin to turn mealy and develop dry spots but they are edible.
Sam mentioned the "knobs" found on the blossom ends of RD,s.  I have heard 
them referred to as "sugar lumps" or something like that.  Probably so named 
by an enterprising marketeer.
Doc