Farmer's Market Watch, Sept. 6: The apples of my eye

While I was eyeing the fetching array of early apples last week at the Appleberry Farm stand, shoppers were getting valuable tips from grower Paul LeDuc.

Last update: September 5, 2007 - 4:50 PM

While I was eyeing the fetching array of early apples last week at the Appleberry Farm stand, shoppers were getting valuable tips from grower Paul LeDuc. "That makes a very good applesauce," he said when a shopper inquired about the small Dutchess apples, and when another browser told him she was buying with her kids in mind, he recommended some beautiful Honeygolds. "They're sweet," he said.

I was on the lookout for a tart baking apple, so LeDuc steered me toward the Cortlands, their crisp, shiny skins a half-and-half blend of chartreuse and rose, their firm flesh wonderfully juicy and almost white. LeDuc and his spouse, Rita, have been cultivating apples on their Lanesboro, Minn., farm for more than two decades, and their orchard spills over with nearly 20 hearty varieties.

"We've got a lot of apples on the trees this year," said Paul. "These early-season apples are not good keepers, maybe three or four weeks, tops. I think they need to be enjoyed right while they're in season." Good advice, which explains why I polished off not one but two of them on my walk back to the office.

Appleberry Farm, Thursdays at the Nicollet Mall branch of the Minneapolis Farmers Market (at 7th St.); Saturdays and Sundays at the Minneapolis Farmers Market, 312 East Lyndale Av. N., 612-333-1718, www.mplsfarmersmarket.com. For a list of 50 Twin Cities metro-area farmers markets, go to www.startribune.com/taste.

RICK NELSON