The autumn months here in the Pacific NW see apple season in full swing, which means it is also cider season! Pressing apples for cider is a good way to make use of slightly damaged apples that would otherwise go to waste. It’s a fun activity that you can do with your friends and neighbors, and, of course, you’ll be rewarded with delicious cider afterward.
In the fall of 2020, City Fruit volunteers Nick and Bea made fresh cider using a family heirloom press. They had previously purchased some cider apples from City Fruit for a cider pressing party they hosted in Fremont where almost 100 neighbors gathered to press cider. You might be wondering, where did the cider apples come from? That summer, community volunteers harvested over 200 lbs. of apples from the Linden Orchard Park, which were donated to FamilyWorks in Wallingford. Another 200 lbs. of cider apples were also harvested that day. Although they were not suitable for donating, the apples were perfectly fine for pressing for cider!
Equipment Rental
Do you want to try your hand at making cider too? City Fruit has three cider presses, an electric press and two manual presses, and they are available for rental. If you are interested in renting one and have questions, you can contact us at [email protected]! We ask that all prospective renters please review and submit to us a completed Cider Press Rental Agreement Form.
Get to know our presses! Check out the following how-to documents to get a feel for how they look, operate, and come apart:
City Fruit also offers equipment rentals, including tools such as orchard ladders, fruit pickers, and pruning loppers, handsaws, and hand pruners. Equipment rentals are free, although we welcome donations on a sliding scale according to the number of tools borrowed and rental days. To check tool availability please email [email protected].