A day at Fly Creek Cider Mill

A few days ago we visited a cider mill. At the mill, they showed us how they made yummy apple cider. The first step is to grind whole apples into eight baskets-each basket weighed 275 pounds!! The second step involves laying out the crushed apples on to the wood slats on the press. After all 10 layers were put down with fabric over them, they pushed the magic button to start the press. The press squeezed all of the juice out of the crushed apples and made cider. As the apples got squeezed smaller, the press went from really tall to pretty short. The fresh cider, as it was pressed, was packaged into 1/2 gallon and 1 gallon cartons. All of the machines are powered by the water of Fly Creek, and the cider mill has been around for over 100 years! The process was very efficient because they ground whole apples and didn't waste any of the apple. They also use the left over apple pulp as compost to fertilize the apple trees. So nothing is wasted. We bought a jug of cider. It was so delicious!!!
allie :-)