Apple Pressing Partnership

 

One benefit of Long Term partnerships—getting the work done efficiently.

                Last week, I roamed the neighborhood with my fruit picker, finding early apples to press for cider. I filled the larger laundry basket, then the heat wave settled in and I ignored them for several days.  By Saturday, there was a line of ants heading across the dining room floor and something had to be done. “Let’s get it over with before it gets hotter,” Mark sighed. I agreed. We divided jobs without discussion.

                Mark: prep the press. He hauled it out of the greenhouse and turned on the hose to rinse it off, then took it apart and gave a couple of pieces a good cleaning. He found the bowl to catch the juice.

                Charlyn: prep the chopping. I found the cuisinart, the fruit cutting board, and the bowl for the choppings. I hauled the apples out of the dining room and hunted down the bucket for the compost. After plugging everything in, I began chopping.

                Mark: is in charge of pressing. It is more fun, but it also requires more leverage to press all of the juice out. He can stand on the mounting board and crank down much better than I can. More weight.

                Charlyn: is in charge of apple prep. I am much faster at chopping and slicing without cutting my fingers, even when there is apple juice everywhere. I have better knife skills and can eliminate more worms, too.

                Mark: does compost delivery and outdoor clean up after the pressing. As compost in general is his area, he knows which ring will like a nice boost of apple moisture to move things along. He also feeds the chickens some of the mash. He hoses off the table and rakes up any big piles of residue.

                Charlyn: does the canning. As soon as the pressing is done, I heave the big pot of juice onto the stove to boil, then pour it into quart jars and can it. Later, I tuck it onto the shelves in the basement.

                We are pretty good at this. And, somewhere in the process, when everything is set up and cranking along, Mark will observe: This wasn’t as bad as I remembered. And the final product is always better.  Partnership.