Apple Picking on the Farm

Fall on the Farm. Last weekend Matt, Shon, and Jess picked apples from a abandoned (old) orchard around the farm. We picked enough to take to the local cider mill and press 14 gallons! Here is a pictorial journey of a few beautiful fall days.

On the way to the orchard...

Cows were hanging out nearby. This one is mid-bite on an apple.

Matt picking apples

There were plenty, but some were out of reach. So Shon lifted us up in the tractor's bucket.

Apples picked, bagged, and off to the cider mill.

The press- you can see the two white plates on the bottom and the unpressed apple pulp are wrapped in burlap in between the plates. Pressing mechanism starting to close in...

Post pressing- see how the plates are now pressed together?

Cider flows into the BYO milk can we brought from the farm.

All cidered up and ready to go home.

A Barn-Raising Experience

Recently the farm team decided to install a new structure to provide cows with shelter from harsh winter conditions as well as hay storage. This "barn" is a metal pole structure with canvas covering and it arrived in the middle of some wet and windy conditions last week (in the farm of unassembled poles and ratchets). The hardy farm crew set to work in the rain and over the next three days, assembled this massive barn. Here are some photos of this latest adventure!

We missed pics from Day 1 but we'll start on Day 2:

Yes, those are round bales of hay that they are standing on. No, it's probably not OSHA approved :-) PS- can you see two of our brown dogs?

Starting to put the canvas over the metal frame...

Below is farm crewman Derek. I told him to pose like it was his senior picture :-)

I forgot to mention that the pigs were hanging out with the crew the whole time, hiding from the rainy weather in the hay bales. We eventually had to kick them out once they started to chew on the canvas and cloth ratchets!

Finally, Day 3 was sunny and bright and here is the crew finishing up the final ratchet adjustments.

And it's even in Penn State colors!