photography by the amazing Saleina Marie Photography

It is officially Fall in my book - the orchard is dropping apples and plums and the fruit flies have set up shop in the kitchen. In between summer ending and school beginning we squeezed in a little cider pressing. The kids are always good sports in shaking the trees, turning the press and of course drinking the fresh cider. There's nothing quite like it, it's sweet, tart and crisp. It's not a surprise we have to cut the kids off, otherwise they might drink their weight in the liquid gold!

I love that our kids get to be part of it. This is where our heart for urban gardening/farming really comes out. Between our little garden and the orchard I could stay pretty busy taking care of all of the produce. There is something so satisfying in harvesting from our own little patch of land. We'll be busy pressing more apples over the coming weeks and finding all sorts of ways to use the plums!

How awesome is it to have friends joining in this tradition - the kids were cider pressing machines!

We love how our kids are learning the importance of taking care of our earth. The fruit and tomatoes, cucumbers and pumpkins are a whole lot more valuable when you had to water and care for them! The concept of 'real food' becomes tangible when you have to tend to it.

But back to pressing!! Here's the full step by step... wash apples, chip them, press them, strain the juice through cheese cloth, strain again and enjoy! Of course we all drink it straight from the press but the strained version is great for storing.

But here's the truth - cider pressing is one of Aaron's favorite things. He is usually the engine behind it. I'm bummed he was not able to be up and around (knee surgery!!) when we did this first pressing/photo shoot. He's normally the one in charge of the press and making sure the kids aren't bathing in the apple washing water ;). Thankfully there are more apples to take care of so he can get his hands into the pressing fun this year!