For the first time in a few years, we have driven down to Brown’s Orchard in Willcox, Arizona to go apple picking. The previous two years the orchard was hit hard by spring frosts that resulted in such low yields that it wasn’t worthwhile to open the orchard for visitors to drop in to pick apples and pears. There may be only a few experiences where a chilly fall day can be so beautiful as today in this orchard with the sheep meandering between trees and munching on fallen apples even while their sides appear to be bulging already with a gut full of fruit. The golden sun on the grasses, dark blue skies overhead, and mountains in the background along with the sound of singing birds, buzzing bees, and the sheep baaing at one another all work in concert to create a perfect backdrop for our lazy walk through thirty-four acres of trees looking for the perfect mix of apples for our cider.
As the morning progresses our picking slows, probably in direct relationship to how many apples we’ve sampled but it could also be due to our unending fascination with being here and our compulsion to take more photos than we’ll ever need of the apples, the sheep, and each other. With our wagons loaded we drag the one hundred twenty pounds of apples necessary for an apple pressing out of the orchard and to the barn.
Back at the barn, June directs us to the whats and wheres of how to proceed in turning our buckets of apples into cider. Our first step is to dump them into a deep sink for washing and removing any yucky stuff such as worms, moths, or the occasional spoiled corner. Caroline and I spend probably more than an hour picking up each individual apple for inspection and thorough washing – we are meticulous in guaranteeing our apples are free of bird droppings or any other contaminants. With the sink now full of lots and lots of apples, it’s time for the next step.
Down the chute and with a quick buzz the apples are ground into pulp and ready to be added to the press. Transferring one-hundred-twenty pounds of apples to the grinder and filling bucket after bucket took no less than a half-hour of us getting in each other’s way. As the bucket below the grinder fills we quickly switch it with a fresh one and drop the pulp into the press that stands close by. As the press fills with pulp the cider almost immediately begins to stream out and into another waiting bucket.
After all of the pulp has been loaded into the press it is time to affix the heavy steel top and lock it down. A water hose attaches to the base of the press and when turned on begins to fill a rubber bladder inside the press. As the bladder fills, its expansion presses the apple pulp to the sides of the perforated steel drum and for a few minutes, the cider flows hard and fast requiring us to keep a quick eye on the rapidly filling bucket below the spout. Full buckets are exchanged for empty ones and the fresh cider is dumped into an even larger stainless steel container. The pressing process takes about another half hour before the one-hundred-twenty pounds of apples have been turned into nine gallons of fresh-pressed, non-pasteurized apple cider. From start to finish we amateur cider makers needed about six hours to turn fruit into juice. At home, this will be frozen and enjoyed over the coming months. No roadside, grocery, or fancy apple cider has ever tasted so good as the cider that comes from Brown’s Orchard down here in Willcox, Arizona.