The Cider Pressing - September 20, 2026 @goldenoakfarm

Taken by Tom

On Sunday morning I was up at 4:45AM and got my post up. Then I got started prepping for the day. My #3 helper arrived just after 8AM with 4 dozen cider donuts.

I knew my 2 interns liked tea and thought maybe everyone wouldn’t want to drink cider so I set up a tea station. My #3 helper helped me get set up and then we sat at the dining room table and cut apples for an hour and a half before Tom and my general helper arrived.

I was so delighted to see my general helper because she had said she couldn’t come!

My #1 intern and her boyfriend arrived and around 10:15AM my #2 intern arrived having finished at her first job. Over the next 2 hours lots of people, friends of Tom’s family, arrived to cut apples and press the cider.

Tom’s daughter with the newest grandchild and her friend with a baby arrived.

The house was filled with chatter and the sounds of children playing, in addition to chopping noises and the grinding of the cider press.

Taken by my general helper

I have to note here that most of these photos were taken by other people. I note where I can who took what.

Taken by my general helper

We finally had enough apples cut we could start grinding them in the press.

Taken by my general helper

Once the wooden tub was 2/3 full, the pressing began.

Taken by my general helper

And then there was cider flowing out!

In the process of writing Saturday’s post I had found a video of my first pressing and had it set up to run on the computer. Tom and I were watching it here.

Taken by my general helper

People manned the cutting stations until about noon and it slacked off, but there was still a whole tote of apples to cut. I had done the nice ones for cider first, so the cider would be available, but we hadn’t gotten more than just over a gallon.

That wouldn’t go very far with 15 - 18 people so when they started cutting the apples from my tree, they discovered that apples designated for vinegar were actually pretty good. So we started separating out the good bits and making more cider before we made much vinegar.

Tom and family had to leave around 1PM but some of the friends stayed and finished cutting and pressing apples. Then I discovered that the best apples from the tree had been forgotten behind a door. So we cut some of them for cider and the rest were kept as eating apples.

Once that was done, most everyone left except my 2 interns and my general helper. They did a lot of clean up and got the press outside and rinsed off. We left the heavy cleaning for Monday morning when my #2 intern would be here.

Vinegar with mothers

We’d ended up with about (6) ½ gallons of cider and (5) ½ gallons for vinegar.

Everyone was gone by 3PM and I was exhausted. I ordered in some supper and watched a movie and was in bed by 8PM. It had rained all day and turned cooler, so the house had been shut up all day.

On Monday I had a LOT of cleaning to do. All the floors were sticky and would have to be washed and rinsed. All the furniture had to be washed down along with cabinets, the dining table and cloth and the walls of the entryway. Then I had to put everything back where it belonged.

The press needed to be pressure washed and put in the sun to dry. I’ll have to find someone to get it into the cellar. So it’s going to be a long busy day…