Today I picked the Yellow Transparents. The mono-chromatic faint-yellow apples are aptly named in English. The skin is practically translucent and has a porcelain shine. As far as anyone knows, Yellow Transparent originated in Russia. It was imported to the US in 1870 along with nearly 200 other hardy Russian culitvars. Bussey (Illustrated History of Apples in the US and Canada) lists two Russian synonyms: Skvosnoi Jeltui and Skwosnoi Schstoi.

The task of translating the names of the dozens of Russian cultivars proved to be nearly impossible. Charles Gibb and others did their best. In the end many of the English names were just made up. The Anglicized Russian words jeltui, jeltoe, scholti, schstoi, schaltui, are all variations on the color “yellow.” Skvosnoe, skvosnoi and skwosnoi are variations on “transparent.”

Yellow Trasparent is one of the first apples to ripen on the farm. They ripen, drop and rot all in about two or three days. We make sauce with ours. It’s tart, light yellow and… transparent. Use ‘em or lose ‘em!