More Apples

Its rather late in the pressing season as normally we would have started at least a month ago but doe to the dry summer conditions the apple trees have slowed right down and when the continued rain hit the apples began to grow again, and the rains and arid summer have delayed our first apple harvest but they are also much bigger and jucier than normal.

Kids climbed trees, apples were loaded into anything they had to hand, buckets, carrier bags, sacks and anything else they could get their hands on and they were furiously filling them and lowering them down the trees and they were tipped into another much larger bucket and a neighbour went round with his 4X4 and trailer and they were tipped into there; meanwhile other adults and children were next door at my neighbours setting up the apple press and sterilising everything, the shredder was lifted onto its platform and its stainless outlet chute was lifted into position. Sheets 1 was placed into the press while children were furiously moving apples and removing any stalks and cutting out any blemishes and roughly cutting up the apples and loading them into a special stainless container we have made, and lifted up to the shredder with a teleporter. Apples were loaded into the shredder and cut up finely and the pulp went down the discharge chute and into the first sheet until it was full, and the sheet was folded over the pulp and a large amount of fresh apple juice drained into the 1000 litre tub underneath, the second sheet was put into the press and this was repeated until we had 8 pancakes and the top was lifted and slid into position, and they were then pressed slowly using hydraulic rams which release much more juice than traditional pressing using screws and wedges, and its much easier.

We pressed a lot of apples this evening and got around 1200 litres of freshly pressed apple juice and the pulp was removed from the sheets in the press and loaded into containers, they were loaded onto a trailer and covered, they were taken to a nearby pig farm and and the pigs went into full orgasm mode as it was thrown into their outdoor pens and it had to be spread out to prevent a Miss Piggy stampede and our neighbouring farmer has a gallon of fresh apple juice.

Meanwhille, several buckets of apples were held back as most of the village make apple sauce from them in such quantities that them make a years worth of apple sauce and then freeze it, no additives, no preservatives, and simply natural and pure apple sauce.

Freshly pressed apple juice was distributed and most of the village have 5 gallons of cider fermenting ready for christmas, and we will have several more pressings.

On a similar point I too have had a bumper crop of apples, very red and juicy for a change, but I've discovered by chance that when I eat apples it gives me back pain.