She’s a beauty. The apple press
Volunteers come early to get started on washing and halving the apples
Local, organic apples being washed
In go the apples
Time to press the pulp
Freedom Gardeners arrive and start filling up the tables with homegrown goodies
Cider pressing – everyone wants to lend a hand
Pouring the juice into the jars
One of the two long tables filled with Freedom Gardeners.
Potluck
Jordanne helps out in the kitchen.
After the screening, Farmer D give a pop quiz and awards prizes
Homegrown Community
We were a bit worried out how the turn out to our recent Film & Food Night would be because it was stuck between two holidays. But once again, attendance was great – the “house” was packed.
Nearly 100 people turned out on a crisp December night. The food spread was incredible. I keep saying this but I think this was one of THE BEST spreads I’ve ever seen (and tasted) the food was amazing. Thank you all! You guys really really brought some amazing dishes. Kudos to you all.
About 1/3 of the attendees were Freedom Gardeners and we had a few tables set aside for the ‘Swap N Trade.’ Once again I was blown away by all the stuff people brought to trade – from an abandoned bunny that needed a home, to acorn flour, olives, herbs, jam, pomegranate slips, kefir grains, white sapote, to tangerine peels dipped in chocolate. I am sure I missed many of the homegrown goodies that people brought.
While admiring the table filled with tasty eye candy I kept thinking to myself if this is what the trade/swap table looks like in December imagine what it would be like in July or August.
Now onto another highlight of the evening the apple cider press. Thanks MRW for letting us borrow it and to DT for generously donating the funds for us to purchase two boxes of local, organic apples.
That cider press was the ultimate “homestead” cider press. In less than 10 minutes it took 40 lbs of apples and made it into delicious and fragrant apple juice. It was the best apple juice anyone’s ever tasted – very smooth and delicious.
After the film, Farmer D gave a pop quiz which is always fun and 10 lucky winners walked away with prizes.
One of the Freedom Gardeners. brought homemade candy apples which we decorated the table with and awarded them to those in attendance “who came the farthest” Turns out there were folks visiting from Ireland, Portland, Bay Area and even Canada.
Thanks S for bringing those wonderful candy apples. They were certainly a treat.
It was certainly a wonderful event to end the year – a event filled with good food, inspiration and community building.
:: Field Hand Appreciation :: S&J B $25, MH $25 generous donation. S & M for the firewood and MH for the grafting video. Thank you all for your generous (practical) gifts and cards.
Thank you all so much! It was a wonderful evening!
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Thanks for sharing the pictures of this event. It’s nice to see that there were some children in attendance as well. It is so important to be involving the next generation in the urban homestead community. I love seeing the mix of ages – we all have something to learn and to teach as we go along.
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Wish I could have been one of the Canadian visitors – this looks like so much fun!
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Glad to see you have such a cool press (same model we have over here under the Moontree) . . . since it looks new (the pressing bags are white and the press screws are still clean!) I have three tips for you:
1. Make sure that the slatted board under the pressing tub being pressed is pushed ALL the way BACK away from the front and sides of the press. The wood of the base tends to expand, and put pressure on the side rails of the tray. I have had to replace one tray and nearly another before I figured out the problem.
2. Clean that apple-eater out with LOTS of water and careful cleaning of each row of teeth, and use high pressure water up UNDER the curve of the cast iron bit. Once any apple dries up in there, it is SERIOUS work to get it out.
3. Get a stick. Putting a stick into the four posts at the top gives you lots of leverage. My favorite stick is an old tiller from a Lido 14 sailboat. It is laminated hardwood, has a nice round handle at one end and a flat rectangle at the other, so it fits nicely into the crank.
Now: How much HARD cider did you put down? (Grin).
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