An Apple A Day? How about 72 Bushels?

    Apple cider season again ... wow, I can't believe that it's already been a full year since the last time we pressed. I've already done a post about how the cider pressing/canning works, so my cider pressing posts since then have been about the experience, not the process.
    Like always, this year's press was loads of fun, as you will soon see.

    Not only did we have a load of apples, but a load of friends to help us unload them. We had to take each apple out of the bins and into crates so they could be easily dumped into the chute. This little guy (sictures above)was always fishing for the big ones way down at the bottom.
    Every year we've progressively pressed more and more apples each time. This time was our largest batch yet, but it's not going to the largest ever ... not if we keep up with the pattern.

    We stacked two of the blins on top of each other so we had to unload one before unloading the other. I don't think we're going to do it that way again -- But, we all had fun being so far off the ground as we loaded up the crates.

    My knee and shoe are in the picture above -- and of course our good friends that always seem to be around when there's lots of work to do. They've helped us split wood, harvest hay, and Christmas carol.We love knowing them. They make the work easy and the play double the fun. 

The children loved to be in the thick of everything, 

but the press owners seemed to enjoy their enthusiasm

Perched atop the crate.

    All of the children wanted a turn holding the hose. Even if they were sharing it with someone else it was the hot item of the day. My mom oversaw it all very well I think. We didn't lose more than a cup. However, we did drink a bunch. The press gave us little plastic cups so we could sample our harvest. It was cold and crisp and sweet just like all cider should be ... except when it's hot and crisp and sweet :)

This little guy was the cutie of the hour ... what a helper!

Hose-Holder-Buddies ... Like I said, the hose was the hot item.

    All together, it took is about two hours and we came away with over 100 gallons of juice. Tomorrow looks nice and frigid so the cider will keep until Monday when Mom and I plan to make a day of it. Apple-Juice-Canning-Day is always a long one, but seeing the juice on the shelf makes everything worth it. 

     Thank you to everyone who helped! 

     Cider pressing wouldn't be the same without friends to do it with.