Fall Fun in the Northwest

It really begins to feel like Fall when the apples are ready to pick. I'm not sure I'm ready for it, since the Summer seemed so short, but it is nice to keep up our little family traditions in the cycles of the year.

The neighborhhood cider pressing brightened up even a cloudy, slightly drizzly sort of day.

Beautiful.

Whoa. Cider pressing. I gotta get in on this some time. Too cool.

Thanks.

Rob

Harley filling up the jugs.

We weren't exactly sure what day we were going to do it until the night before. Usually our planning works out better.

Rob, you're welcome to drop in for some cider next time we press, though i know it is kind of a trek to get over to Vashon.

One side benefit to the event is a heap of compost. I tried layering apple pulp with leaves and grass clippings this year.

Me too, me too. That sounds so cool!! Thanks for the pictures. I've never been to a cider pressing, but it looks like a sure sign of autumn to me, too.

Well hey, if we manage to do another pressing this year, I'll post it here and anybody who feels like a ferry boat ride and a turn around the cider press can come on over. Our sweet apple tree was ripe and mostly harvested for Sunday's pressing, but our tree with dense, tart apples still isn't ripe and there are bushels of them that will go to waste if we don't do something. We are scoping out a source of sweeter, late ripening apples to mix with them. If we have enough energy and inspiration, we'll go for it.

We bought into the press with 2 other families, so we'd also have to coordinate with them. It is a pretty cool machine, and can process 50 gallons in several hours. It has an electric apple chopper, and then you manually twist the crank to press the juice out of the pulp.

First we give the apples a bath with a little chlorine bleach in the water, then rinse them and toss into the 'chopper hopper'. Every once in a while the hopper needs to be un-jammed when the apple tossers get too enthusiastic.

I can almost taste that cider!

Holly would love to be there, but sorry I can't. with Work Work and now the ferry is down to one boat on the Kingston run, took me 3 hours to get home last night. Arrff
Looks like fun
Tills

That commute sounds miserable, Tilly. I am grateful that my drive to work is short, though I make up for it some nights by staying far too late. I got a job here on "The Rock" and moved here so I wouldn't have to deal with the ferry every day. It does make going anywhere more of a challenge, and the prices are higher for just about everything, but I count myself lucky to have a home, a job, and an acre of yard to plant things in. I'm still working on getting a little package together for you. Sorry I'm so slow, but life gets hectic. This weekend should be better.

Mary, I would have thought they'd be back to two boats by now! That's an unbelievable commute time - hope you have something good to read or listen to!

Got a update. back to 2 boats. life is better now. LOL

Yeah that the boats are up and running! What a relief.

Well we were planning a second apple press for next weekend, but we got a call this morning that my Father-in-law has passed away early this morning. We are grateful he was found by his home health aid before too much time had passed. My DH (Harley) is leaving for South Dakota tomorrow and will not be back until late next Saturday. I was paged at the science training I was attending (No school for kids today across the state) and my stomach dropped. I was at a previous science training last Spring when we got the news a family friend had died. I think I will avoid science trainings like the plague from now on.

OH, Holly All my best wishes and prayers to you and all.
Why is it at this time of year is when we lose love one's, one of my girls at work just lost her father. I lost mine in Nov of 85.
Don't give up on science.

Maybe back to 2 but the second one does not hold that many cars, still a long wait.

I got a treat today, was standing in for another manager at his store.
Arrived a t 6am. And was watching all this going ons at Central Market across the parking lot. Had no clue what was happening. Watch 3 guys move a big hay wagon, one pulling two pushing and it got away from them. Was to dark to take pics, but was funny. Moving tents around and setting up for something?
Then I had to go do what I do to set up the store. Come back out a hour or so later, and saw pickup after pickup bringing in these huge pumpkins in. I so wanted to run over and take some pic's, but alas I can't leave the store. Sooooo SaDDDD.
But when I got off duty it was over.
But I did get a couple of pic's as a drive by. LOL

The banner says all

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So wish I could have got more.
They are so big, My try with a pumpkin I got soccer balls LOL

Holly - please let Harley know that I'm so sorry about his father's passing. I'm sure it's a terrible shock for him, but I'm hoping that his dad didn't suffer.

My gosh, those pumpkins are immense! If we put a jack-o-lantern that size on the porch, we wouldn't be able to get out the front door. This wasn't a very good pumpkin year for me. I do pie pumpkins, and usually have 40+ little pumpkins (enough to give each of my kids one, make gallons of pie filling, and supply family and friends). This year I've only harvested 12 pumpkins, and several green ones still on the plant may not ripen on the vine before freeze-out.

Thanks for posting more Fall Fun.

Kathy and Tilly, I appreciate you thinking of Harley and our family. His dad passed away peacefully in his sleep. He was a man who grew up on a homestead in South Dakota, lived through the dust bowl, the Depression (rode the rails at 14 years old to do farm labor in California), made it through torpedo attacks and nearly being washed overboard on a ship in the Navy during WW2. He truly earned his years to go peacefully fishing on the river later in life.

Tilly, I won't give up on science, but I'm going to be really nervous during the next training in a few months even though I know there is no scientific correlation between going to class and deaths in the family.

Holly, I'm catching up a bit today - so sorry about Harley's father passing. It's always a bit of a shock, even when it's expected.

Boy - his story sounds fascinating. It's something to get down on paper or tape for sure. It sounds like he used up every inch of his life, which is a great legacy.

So sorry on the passing of your father-in-law. Sounds like he will be sorely missed. Hugs to the whole family as you lift each other up.

Well I've derailed my own thread. I was hoping to see corn shocks, hay bales, pumpkin patches and the like. Tilly came through fabulously with those amazing pumpkin pictures.

Luckily, when my son was in the 3rd grade he did an interview and report about Grandpa Bob. I've got to find which drawer I packed that paper away in. He was staying with us over the Winter that year, and they did a lot of crab fishing off the dock together. I've been digging the occasional crab claw out of the compost every once in a while since then.
Looking through pictures, I found this....the last time I saw Grandpa Bob, right before we drove away headed for home.

Well, Holly, that brings tears to my eyes. What a beautiful picture that tells such a story.

You have so much love and security built into that hug and he is a big bear of a man. Hard to believe that a man like that could ever succumb to death.

I just relized the last 2 didn't show up, wonder what happened, of I forgot to put it in. LOL

Holly, that truly is a wonderful photo, one you will always treasure.

Tills, those pumpkins are enormous - make me laugh!

Makes me wonder how many pies can you make with one, Or who needs a house.
But these where small potatoes compared to the Guy from Oregon, who took his to a way off in Calif. His came in at 1200 LBs I saw it on the News. These guys I showed where 6 to 7 hundred. Now thats allot of sqush no doubt. LOL

We did apple pressing last month too. You can read about it on my blog, http://livinginlangley.blogspot.com/. It was really a blast and the juice is soooo good. I freeze most of it to use throughout the year and some I freeze in 1-cup containers (freezer jam containers) to use in recipes.

I just got my vegie garden dozed out today too, so hopefully soon I can get a garden going! I am going to do winter cover crops, if I can get the beds lined out.

Gwen

Holly,
I'm so sorry to hear about your father in law. I love the picture, it sure is worth a thousand words. Hugs to you and yours, Rachel

Thanks Rachel. We are trying to get back into the swing of our lives, but in those quiet moments between all the busy-ness of doing things that need to be done I think of Grandpa Bob and my own dad too who have both passed on. They were a funny pair when they hugged each other when they first met, Bob a big bear 6 feet tall, and my dad a small gnome, a little over 5 feet.

I am so sorry your kitty is sick. That must be exhausting getting her fed and the meds in. Cats do not like the indignity of that kind of thing.

Gwen, I just had a chance to look at your blog. Looks like a great time! Your press looks similar to ours, with two frames for chopped apples, so you can be filling one while pressing the juice out of the other.

would like your help,
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/919964/