The other week with an absolute hankering for a real apple crumble he turned to Grant, their fourth generation Tasmanian apple grower from Spreyton Cider to find out which variety he should be getting, along with the usual lunch boxes apples that is.

So here's Grant's wrap-up on what is in season at the moment and how they look and taste.

For cooking definitely.

We have a few of the early Buck eye Galas, a lovely crisp sweet apple with a full block red colouring.

Royals will be coming along soon with a more striped skin and superior flavour.

The Galas just keep getting better.

The first of the year's crop of Pinks are finally here.

Our Cripps Pink Ladies are the original Pink Lady varietal and while they don’t have the full block colouring of some of the more modern pink varietals, their flavour is exceptional.

A lovely crisp apple with pink and green skin and a good sugar/acid balance and slightly tart finish.

Pink Ladies are my preferred lunch box snack.

The sweetest of the apples we have this week, the Fujis are a good looking red and green apple with plenty of sweetness, perfect for the kids’ lunch boxes.

A fantastic tasting apple with a lovely yellow skin and, if you are lucky, a slight pink blush. No better tasting Goldens can be found in the world than those grown in North West Tasmania. Goldens make great eating and a lovely pie as well.

This is the original Tasmanian varietal, grown from a chance seedling many years ago. Grannies are a lovely tart apple prized for their excellent keeping and cooking qualities.

Tasmanian Grannies are very hard to come by as they tend to have a pink blush that the supermarkets deem unacceptable, but that glow in their cheeks is just a sign of their incredible flavour.

Spreyton apples will be at Lake Mac at Tighes Hill TAFE this Saturday from 7.30am to 1pm.

Spreyton can also be found at the Newcastle City Farmers Market along with Mark’s apples from Batlow, Kate’s apples from Young and the Tilse Apples from Scone, the last of the Hunter Valley orchards.

NSW Farmers Market Pty Ltd was started in 1999 by Kevin Eade, a sole trader, in a small field in Morpeth in the Hunter Valley.

In March 2000 the market moved into town to Honeysuckle and was renamed as the Original Fine Food Market.

After eight months the lease was up and the area was redeveloped into the Newcastle Museum space, so Kevin set up a Fine Food Market on the Central Coast while he hunted for a new location.

In 2005 he found the perfect location at Newcastle Showground, using the Cattle Pavilions, the caged area and the green space between the two structures.

Changing from a sole trader to an incorporated company in 2009 under the banner of NSW Farmers Market, the market has grown, spreading around the oval along the roads at the showground, but also in locations as there are now satellite markets – Gosford Farmers Market every Sunday and Lake Macquarie and Wyong on alternative Saturdays.