Remember our trip to Hope Orchards the other day to buy pears?  Well, one really fun thing going on while we were there that I didn’t mention in my last post is that they were pressing apple cider while we were there!   The small main building at the orchard houses both a compact retail space and the orchard’s pressing operation.  The building is open on one side, so the public can easily watch the pressing.  It’s not that they have it set up to be “viewed” per se (no “observation areas” here) it’s just that it’s all happening right there, out in the open, because that’s just how they do things.  It was really fun for the boys because the guys doing the processing were happy to let them help put the apples on the conveyor belt, and even brought them around behind the press to get a better view of the actual pressing and of the juice dripping out of the pressed apple pulp.  Then we watched the just-pressed cider go through a clear plastic tube above our heads, and directly down into gallon jugs.  Seeing Connor and Ian watching intently, the man filling the gallons took a moment to remove a tube from one of the jugs in order to fill up a cup for each boy, which they proceeded to down in about three seconds each.  What a treat–it doesn’t get much fresher and more delicious than that!

Cider-Making at Hope Orchards 2, 10-8-10

Cider-Making at Hope Orchards 3, 10-8-10

Cider-Making at Hope Orchards 4, 10-8-10

Cider-Making at Hope Orchards 6, 10-8-10

Cider-Making at Hope Orchards 7, 10-8-10