Sunday was the annual apple cider pressing party at my friend Tracy's house! It's one of my favorite events of the year, and the weather was absolutely perfect. One year it rained the whole day, which was less than optimal in terms of comfort, but it really kept the yellow jackets away. This year they were everywhere.
We started with the picking, which involved a lot of stinging insect avoidance in itself. I'm glad we had a lot of help this year, because it's a pretty labor intensive process and many hands make light(er) work.
I have never asked Tracy how many apple trees they have, but there are so many! We picked tons of apples and I'm not sure it made much of a dent in the total number.
After the buckets are full, off they go to the press. First the apples get a rinse to get rid of loose leaves and other debris.
Then it's into the press. That's the part the kids love, even though I'm sure their parents have to peel them out of the car when they get home because they're covered in cider spatters.
This is also where many hands come in handy, so to speak. There are always enough people to do the work and let others take breaks to chat and sample the goods.
The squished apple bits go into the tractor bucket and are taken out to the chicken yard. Several years ago Scott and Tracy were raising a couple of pigs and a bunch of the apple squish was fed to them. They got so sick they didn't want to eat for three days. That's the first time I've ever seen a pig overeat, and it was not pretty. The chickens will pick at it over many days, and hopefully not be the worse for wear because of it.
The apples are a thing of beauty all on their own. Some of them are too pretty to be made into cider.
The finished product is the most delicious thing on earth, at least at this time of year. We probably pressed at least 30 gallons, and there are so many more apples that we could do at least that much again, if nobody gets bored with it.
Later in the afternoon, we paused in the cider making to enjoy a potluck dinner. This part of the event is almost as delicious as the cider. There was way too much food, as is customary with potlucks, so everyone got stuffed and had to relax for a while before going back to the cider.
It was a wonderful day, filled with food, friends and fruit. I will go back and help them with the production part of pressing before everything gets cleaned and stored until next year, but it's not as much fun as the party. Here's a flower to close out this sublimely lovely Sunday. Even though it's actually Tuesday.
Happy apple season, everyone!