In Autumn, we had the opportunity to pick apples. Lots of apples. About 300lbs of apples to be precise. We did everything we could think of to process the apples. Still, there were apples rotting off the trees on through January. It was such a shame. We ate apples with peanut butter, apples in spinach salad, apples on granola. We ate them raw, dehydrated, in sauce, in crisps, in pancakes, in pie and then finally we made apple juice. Now, taking the juice one step further, we decided to use our carboy to make cider.

We realized quite quickly that we needed a cider press. Behold! The inventors got to work. It was a Friday night and Marc and Theresa drew up sketches for how to make a cider press. Now, neither worked extensively with wood. This did not dim my faith in their creative abilities. And Theresa does not know the word “Can’t.”

The next morning I scuttled off to work and they scuttled off to the Nu-To-U to scrounge for a cider press. The Nu-To-U is the thrift store on Pender. They have well… everything. Including the kitchen sink. Which is what you see in this picture. Yes, they actually bought a kitchen sink, built a box and put together a cider press. What can I say? I hang out with very cool people!

The next step, after picking, is to peel. And peel. And peel some more.

After peeling, blending, mushing and squeezing. We had apple liquid going into our carboy. All we had to do was let it sit.

Apple has enough sugar in it so that you do not have to add a yeast to make alcohol. You just have to leave it alone, with a special cap on it to let the gas out and keep the germs at bay.

Theresa and I peeling and peeling and peeling

We tasted the cider periodically. It went from sweet, to sweet with alcohol to forgotten about…

The next time we tasted it, it tasted like dry cider, with some tang. Some vinegar tang.

Now, I’ve been told by very reliable sources, that apple cider vinegar aids in digestion problems. It helps people with heart burn and if you suffer from these afflictions, take a gulp of it every morning and your symptoms will be gone.

To our surprise, we’ve had more requests for apple cider vinegar than plain ol’ apple cider.

The best thing ever was that I got to add it to a cheese recipe and I thought, “Here I am, on the road to self-sustainability one apple at a time.” Maybe it won’t be that difficult after all!