Get Ready for Cider Pressin'!

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Check around for neglected or wild apple trees in the area where you live (and make sure those trees really have been abandoned, and that you aren't trespassing on someone else's property). Chances are, unless you live in an area where — for reasons of climate or soil — apple trees don't thrive, you should be able to locate enough free-for-thetaking fruit to keep you in juice for many months.

In the suburban neighborhood where we used to live, we discovered some apple trees on land which the state had bought for a freeway right of way ... and gathered enough juicy red apples from the orphaned trees our first year to make fifteen gallons of delicious cider. As is the case with most unsprayed, untended trees, the apples we got from these foundlings proved to be undesirable for eating purposes ... but were quite satisfactory for cider making. (Since blemished, bruised, and/or undersized apples do make splendid cider — but don't sell well at the fruit counter — you might even want to ask commercial growers if you can clean such apples off the ground for them.)

If you have a choice, stick with late-ripening varieties — Red and Golden Delicious, Jonathan, Northern Spy, Rome Beauty, Victory, York Imperial — as they generally produce a more flavorful cider than early-ripening fruit. (The best taste, incidentally, comes from blending several varieties together.)

And don't begin to harvest your crop until the apples have ripened enough to begin failing from the trees. This way, you'll know that [1] the apples are mature, and [2] the trees will release a good deal more hard-to-reach fruit with a bit of vigorous shaking. You'll need to harvest your apples soon after they've fallen to the ground, however, if you intend to beat the ants, birds, deer, and raccoons to the free eatin's!

Plan to have plenty of boxes, baskets, sacks, or other containers on hand when you begin your harvest. It takes a bushel of apples to make two to three gallons of cider ... which means you'll need a whole carload of large grocery bags filled with the fruit to make anywhere near 40 gallons of squeezin's. So come prepared!

Next Stop: The Cider Mill

When you've gathered up a respectable quantity of crisp, ripe apples — and you've made sure the fruit is reasonably free of dirt, insecticides, mold, and other impurities (washing probably won't be a part of the mill's operation) — you'll want to cart your goodies off to an old-fashioned cider mill.

(Optional: If you have an abundant supply of other fruits, by all means experiment and mix them in with your apples. Grapes, pears, and peaches — stones removed — all make delicious cider blends!)

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