Got Cider?

 Arkansas Black Apple.

Just walk around on the limbs and pick.

There were more than we could pick.

 

All the apples picked by girls made their way into receptacles.  A portion of those picked by boys were analyzed and trialed as substitutes for snow balls.  Since apples do not normally break apart on impact it was determined that their use as snow balls was painful and therefore limited.  For reasons unknown, this conclusion had to be validated a number of times.

Never throw away empty feedbags, they have multiple uses.

 

Washing the apples.

 

Loading the machine.  The ground apples are transferred to the front (next picture).

 

Where they are pressed (with the Yoders, extraordinary friends who have been a tremendous blessing to us).

 

And the cider then flows out of the bottom,

and is then filtered before being put into jars.

 

 Some little kids don't care if it's filtered, as soon as no one is looking...

busted.

 

Ahhhh!

Just as with the feedbags, make the most of byproducts (what remained of the apples was fed to livestock).

One can also turn the cider in to hard cider.  Add yeast specifically for cider and an airlock (device at the top that does not let air in but lets gasses escape).  Let sit for a couple of weeks while the yeast eats the sugar and produces the "hard stuff."  A chemical is used to stop the fermentation once a desirable level of sweetness is achieved but... some people are sensitive to the chemical.  Tonya chose to let the cider completely ferment (so it's dry) but adds fruit juice when serving it.