Apple Cider Pressing on Whidbey

Using the edible bounty all around us is incredibly gratifying!  What better way to spend a beautiful, sunny (and chilly) October evening than to press apples into cider and party with friends?  We went to our friends cider party today and the children and adults all got to help (or watch) in the process of picking, cleaning, pressing, and bottling fresh cider. With the heavy-duty press our friends have, it was really easy to make the cider.

Below are some links about apple cider pressing and pictures of the festivities:

 

Marina puts apples in the "grinder part" (like my technical term?) of the press.  This was not your average cider press, it was huge!  You can really make a lot of cider in a short amount of time.

Brian cleans the apples.  Cleaning the apples in buckets of water was an important part of the process.

   

Kids and adults pick the apples from the orchard.

Here is a part of the orchard.  There are a lot of fruit trees, what an enormous responsibility!

After the juice is pressed out of the apples it drains through this cloth strainer and then:

 . . . it gets bottled!

I help Marina put apples into the grinder

She quickly became a pro, dumping two in at a time.

Megan puts apples in the grinder.

Aaron fixes an apple jam in the machinery due to an over zealous kid

There was more than the apples to enjoy.  Marina poses on the pumpkins.

All of a sudden it really feels like autumn!!

Stella shows the "moo moos" an Asian pear she brought over for them. . .

 

Little brown really like the pear.

Stella gets an unconventional ride with Dad 

APPLE LINKS

How to build your own apple cider press:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It-Yourself/1976-09-01/How-To-Build-A-Cider-Press.aspx?page=2

Where to purchase an apple cider press and other orchard supplies:
http://www.jaffreypress.com/