Cider pressing with a bunch of friends and a nice bring a dish to pass meal is a blast. We are missing so much because we don't do things like this in our culture any more.
"We are missing so much because we don't do things like this in our culture any more."
Yes we are, Metmom!
I have a ton of apple trees, but weather-depending they don't produce well each year. I let Nature do her thing; no chemicals for me, and my area is famous for a late frost after the trees have all bloomed, so it's an every-four year event.
On years when we have a bounty, we borrow the old Cider Press from the in-laws. It weighs about a million pounds, so I need All Hands on Deck to move the d@mn thing, LOL!
We've had great time doing just what you suggested. Pressing cider, drinking fresh apple juice, setting some aside for Hard Cider and the chickens just LOVE crushed up apples.
Good times. :)
When I was a small kid my father would take us to nearby orchards and get fresh pressed cider. Of course, the orchards are gone now. And all the cider I've seen in stores in years is pasturuized.
That cider we used to get was like nectar of the gods.
I wonder why people think that good farmland can be neglected or covered with houses and shopping centers forever. Nothing is as valuable as good rich farmland.