You know it’s fall when good friends Jeff and Denise invite you to their annual cider-making celebration. It might be one of my favorite ways to spend a Saturday afternoon. (Jeff was my advisor in graduate school; I love that he lives near by and we are good friends.)
First, you pick apples. Apples and apples and apples. Apples that have not been sprayed or treated in any way except to prune them in their early years, and then let nature take its course. They don’t look like the apples you buy in the store; their skins are covered in blemishes and their size varies greatly, even from the same tree. Some are tiny, the size of walnuts. Some are huge and round and look, well, fat. The tiny, red ones are super sweet, with just the right amount of tang. The fat, green ones are richer, more acidic–probably not apples I’d eat a lot on their own. Others are deliciously crunchy and taste a little like honey.
After you lug the apples up the hill to the house, bucket by bucketful, the apples are washed in a water tank.
Then they are chipped up by something that acts like a massive cheese grater, and takes some serious muscle to turn. Jim spent most of our time there turning the crank; bless his strong shoulders.
After that the apple chips are poured into the top of a century-old cider press, which–oh the circle of life!–came from the family of another of Jeff’s graduate students and my partner when we started Dog’s Best Friend thirty years ago, Nancy Rafetto.
Did you notice the pail on the left with the cheese cloth on top? After some serious physical labor to turn the crank, the apple juice pours into the pail, filtered by the cheese cloth, and ends up being the best apple cider you’ve ever had in your life.
We’re not the only ones who are happy. I filled a huge bucket full of apples for the sheep. Only the older sheep who have been here for years are eating them now. Apparently apples are an acquired taste, sheep usually prefer bitter over sweet. But I used to have dozens of wild apple trees, and the older resident sheep used to run from tree to tree when I shook the branches. Apparently there’s nothing like the power of sugar, even if you have hooves.
However, it’s not easy eating apples if you have incisors on only one jaw. Here’s Solo looking like a kid at a “dunking for apples” party. I’m not sure if her closed eyes are an example of ovine bliss, or she’s just concentrating on the challenge of gumming an apple.
And you? Any special rituals that make you love fall too?
lak says
Walking in the brisk morning with the dog, watching the geese fly away, and the turtles sunning themselves for one last afternoon!
Kriss Frazee says
So awesome! One of my dogs really loves apples and berries too. She will wait til there are ripe berries to pick. She also picks the low hanging apples and checks a couple of times a day for fallen apples! Yum Yum!!
LisaW says
I know, I know. Careful what you wish for. Our 80-90 degree weather has made fall seem like a mirage. Please remind me of how I cursed the heat when it’s the middle of February. But hard to enthuse about apple picking, glorious hiking, blanket snuggling, cooking indoors, not sweating, bike riding, not sweating . . . Hmmm, guess I just did! Fall is my favorite season regardless of its harbinger nature.
Jennie Berkson says
We went apple picking with my grandchildren this past weekend. We picked a whole bunch and brought them home to make apple sauce and apple cobbler. I peeled them before cooking and made a big discovery about Belle, our nearly three year old chocolate Lab/Chessie rescue. Still learning her eating preferences. She doesn’t like any kind of vegetables so far, but LOVES apple peels!
Debbie says
What a fantastic photo of the sheep!
Kandy McDonald says
I love gazing out at our lake while sitting on our docks with our pup by my side. The leaves haven’t changed yet here, but there’s a hint of that Autumn smell in the air already. This time of year, in the Adirondack mountains, is truly a gift.
Thanks for making me stop and think about something I enjoy!
PS Do you accept questions on training issues via your blog?
Mason says
I love the contagious energy of the back-to-school frenzy in my neighbourhood — almost as much as I love the slower, sultry pace of summer!
Regina Allen says
I just love the smell of fall … I suspect it has to do with the moist leaves after they fall from the trees. The dogs and I love fall hikes because it’s nice and cool after a hot summer. Although it’s done nothing but rain this summer, so maybe it will be a nice dry fall! I also love watching post-season baseball.
Christine Johnson says
You describe exactly what we do here at Golden Road Farm, and we have the same old (hand cranked!) apple press. Organic apples, lots of friends and family, a big potluck supper afterwards. The Corgis love the apples and today we’re celebrating the eleventh birthday of our “Apple litter”- Northern Spy in residence.
Kay East says
Love cool, crisp morning walks with my two & four-legged friends in our CA foothills. Even in drought, the leaves are turning, quail & wild turkeys out everywhere coveying up, so it seems as though there are so many more than on summer walks. The walnut harvest is in full swing all around us. Prices for coastal lodging have dropped way down and crowds are gone, which means retirees like us can find solitude on the beaches with our dogs during the week.
KC Wilson says
There’s no other smell like the smell of fall in Anchorage, Alaska. The rotting leaves and tundra are a bit like smelly socks, but I grew to love fall in spite of the smell. My favorite time of year when the yard work ends and the fog hovers over the earth but it hasn’t yet begun to snow. I no longer live in Alaska, but one of the things I miss are the moose. The moose would come calling after Halloween and munch on the frozen pumpkins left on peoples’ porches.
STACEY Gehrman says
All of my dogs love the windfall apples. Sometimes I peel and core for the mini doxie mix and our 15 year old BC . The others choose their own and lay in the fall sun to crunch. They leave stems and seeds. During the winter when their supply is gone I give them boughten apples and they think that’s a special treat.
Trisha says
I can’t answer all training questions on the blog, but am able to sometimes. Often other readers will chime in–it’s a great village! So ask away, it never hurts to try…
Trisha says
Argh, it was 86 and super humid as I was writing this post yesterday. None of that cool, high pressure weather we like to think of associated with fall. But still… had applesauce I made from another friend’s trees last week, am looking out the farm house window now at leaves turning in the rain.
Bobbie says
Years ago children from the block behind from many ages in Omaha would knock at the back door and ask if Casey could come out to play. He was an Irish Setter from old Virginia hunting stock when we were living in Virginia. In the summer he would play with each child according to his abilities (Age. I remember one being age 3 and with his 12-year-old brother). One year the kids loved it when they’d take an apple from the yard behind and put it in front of him and say, “Casey, eat it!” and he would nibble a small bite from it, and look at them and wag his tail, enjoying the moment (and maybe the taste of the apple?) with them.
Cris says
Thank you for your blog, I really enjoy reading it. You are a wonderful writer!
I love the change in weather; cold mornings which warm to a comfortable 70 degree afternoon, and the trees starting to turn all shades of red, orange and yellow. I just noticed the Buckeye tree is about to drop it’s big, hard seeds. And yesterday, I bought a pumpkin to put on the porch.
lin says
Not quite fall here in the Bay Area (still danger from wildfires). The early morning walks with the dog are darker; almost time to get out the lighted collar.
For a number of years our local farmers’ market had wonderful Hillview Farms, and Joe brought heirloom varieties to the market. A couple of years ago, Joe decided on a well-deserved retirement, and my husband still talks wistfully about his Hudsons. We just found someone who has Pink Pearls, a very tart apple with pink flesh that tastes great cooked in oatmeal.
MARGARET E. MCLAUGHLIN says
My dogs’ passion is mulberries, usually resulting in a Code Blue Poo. I’d really rather they ate nice clean apples.
Love fall. It’s always been my favorite time of year, and has always seemed like the start of the new year, even though I’m 40 years out of college. I’m in northern Indiana, and the leaves are just beginning to turn, and the early mornings just beginning to fog. But the days are getting noticeably shorter. I need my bike light to see the trail at 7a.
Trisha says
Code Blue Poo is about the funniest thing I’ve heard all week. Thanks for the laugh!
Melanie says
Love apples and cider. My dog loves apples too. But don’t you worry about cyanide poisoning from the seeds? It’s spring here in Australia and strawberry season so enjoying them instead now. Spring is my favourite season as I hate the cold and rain, days are finally getting longer too!
Kat says
My parents have a glorious huge old crabapple tree that produces the most nasty horrible crab apples you can imagine. That is they’re nasty and horrible if you’re a human. The sheep always loved them. These days they don’t have sheep but instead they have a yard moose. She comes every fall often with a bull and a calf and cleans up all the crabapples, mows the lawn, and fertilizes before moving on to winter quarters. https://www.flickr.com/photos/33350160@N02/albums/72157687346446352
DIANE says
Long ago I went apple picking with my sister in law. Thought we were going to an orchard, but the apple trees looked like shrubbery. Picked them and took them back to make all kinds of apple goodies, including pies. Did I bother to say I can’t bake if my life depended on it? Thought the filling looked too dry so added water…yeah – disaster.
Then tried again…better but still not good. Spent all day picking and baking and nothing. I went to the store to get an apple pie that was edible. Label said “apple” but when we cut into it….it was cherry. I couldn’t even do a store bought apple pie. Did I mention I was raised in the city? (Still a fun day and one I won’t forget!) Your food pics always look so delicious!!! Envy…jealous (do dogs get jealous over apple pies?)
Trisha says
Thanks for the laugh! Let me know when you’re in WI and we can make an apple pie together! Easy as pie!