Following my
return from Norfolk full of admiration for the neat orchard of Whin Hill Cider, I became ever more ashamed of my own. The
abnormal amount of rain in July encouraged the grass to grow even more out of
control than it had been in June. Back then I could get within about 3ft of the
trunks; the problem now became the increasing weight of the crop. With some
trees the branches have drooped so low that I've had to avoid cutting the grass
below them altogether. I've vowed to be more severe with lower branch pruning
next winter!
For the time
being drastic measures were needed. Not only could I not bear the sight of all
the long grass, but I also feared the extra difficulty of harvesting that it
would cause. There was nothing else for it. I put the garden lawn mower in the
car and took it to the orchard. There then followed several day of hard work
pushing the little mower round and round every tree trunk. The work was tougher
than it should have been because the self propelling mechanism of the mower had
long since given up the ghost. It occurred to me as I laboured, that I could
perhaps fit this lawn mower on a sprung arm so as to protrude outboard from my
tractor mounted topper. This makeshift arrangement would then mimic Jim and
Pete's clever mower that allows the grass to be cut right up to the tree
trunks. How easy sometimes things can be to envisage, but then prove to be much
more difficult to implement! But I could be tempted to see if it could be done,
when I have treated myself to a new self propelled mower for use in the garden
and the present mower is thus redundant.
But for now
the work is its own reward. At last I have an orchard to be proud of again. No
longer do I feel ashamed when the summer ramblers troop across on the footpath!
Today I spent a happy afternoon there in the warmth of our new found summer
sunshine. I sat outside the barn drinking tea from the thermos, the dogs lazing
at my feet and admired the ripening crop. What a lovely sight and definitely my
best crop yet! The Discovery tree looked particularly beautiful, absolutely
laden with shiny red apples. On closer inspection however I found it to be
fiercely buzzing with wasps, a sure sign that urgent picking was needed. I got
out the hoe and shook each branch in turn until the apples were all down. That
was the easy part. I then had to brave the wasps! Every apple seemed to have
two or three them in attendance. I knew that my full concentration would be
needed on picking the apples out of the grass, if I was to avoid being stung. I
found a good little trick was to quickly flick each apple with my finger to
dislodge the wasps, before picking it up. It worked well and I collected about
150 kg in all. When dusk fell there were very few apples left for the birds and
the angry wasps. I'm glad to say my only injury was a bruise on my forehead
from one of the falling apples.
I get an
allergic reaction to wasp stings and so take especial care to avoid being
stung. I do know where the beggars are going next. There is a ripening Victoria
plum tree not far away that has already received the advance party. More fun
next week!
Tomorrow
will be the first pressing of the season to generate my starter for this year's
cider blend and some bottles of our favourite apple juice. It will be good to
be pressing again!
I will be
thinking of Jim and Pete at Whin Hill. They told us
that this is their most difficult time of the year. Their problem it that the
demand in their shop reaches a peak due to the holiday visitors, just when they
also need to be at the orchard to harvest the Discoverys
that they use for their juice.
Rose
I picked my Discovery tree two weeks ago and have made 85
litres of juice. 5 litres went straight in the freezer, as it is such a nice
juice to drink. The remaining 80 has since been making loads of froth in three 5
gallon wine fermenters. As usual these will be used to give a quick start my
first 300 litre pressing of the early cider apples in about 2 weeks time. It is
really no more than a little ritual that I've adopted, but I do like
fermentation to get underway as soon as possible. It is so comforting to know
that plenty of protective CO2 is being generated. It means that I can
confidently pump straight into a 1000 litre IBC and not have to worry that the
headspace will not be filled until the third pressing has been completed.
It is always a surprise how quickly pressing time seems to
come round again. I have done very little of what I had intended by way of
improvements to the process. Now panic has set in because I would dearly love
to get the overhead pomace hopper working this year. I had it made 3 years ago
as a stainless box, capable of holding a half ton of pomace and installed it
through the ceiling above the cheese making position, in front of the press.
The bottom of the box is formed with the four sides sloping down to an 8 x 8
inch outlet. The grand idea was that I could fill the hopper with pomace with a
day's work of apple washing and milling. The half a ton that it held would then
be sufficient to build the cheese and press the juice on the following day. I
usually work alone and have found that I need two days to complete a pressing.
Tiredness is the enemy that creeps up ever sooner, with one's increasing age!
At present I alternate between milling and cheese building with each and every
layer on the press. It would be much more efficient if I could do all the
milling and then do all the pressing.
On Barry's first visit here several years ago, he took one
look at the hopper and said that it could be difficult to make it work. He said
that a better flow of pomace is achieved if the hopper only has two opposite
sides sloping towards the outlet (like a piece cut from a cheese). He thought
that my hopper design, with its 4 sloping sides, was likely to jam. My heart sank, for suddenly I could imagine
what he was saying. My pomace, sliding down from the four corners of its little
universe would crash, bang, wallop, all meet in the middle, and jam the outlet!
What a dispiriting thought. I could not bring myself to do anything further
about the hopper after that and decided to make do without it.
The intended way of using the hopper as an overnight store
also started to worry me. If the juice in the pomace were to leak out during
the night, then the stiffer pomace that was left would be all the more likely
to stick like glue on the following day. The simple shut off plate that had
been fitted by the welding shop was obviously going to be hopeless. Last year I
got them to make me a butterfly valve in stainless that could be fitted to the
hopper outlet, as an improvement. As soon as I saw it, I knew it would not
work. They had engineered a generous 'clearance' of about a millimeter
all around the rotating disc! I needed a valve that was fully watertight if
there was to be any chance of the hopper working.
This summer I discussed the problem with Hans who owns the
fish farm in our village. He suggested that a type of rotating iris valve that
he uses on his fish transport tank would be just the thing, as these valves are
large and also water tight. Unfortunately they are made of aluminium, though
the manufacturer told me they could do one in stainless for £620! Further internet
hunting amongst Hans' suppliers has now resulted in large butterfly valves made
of PVC with an integral nitrile sealing ring. The
largest available is 8 inches diameter and is only £150. One of these well
engineered valves is now on the bench in the ciderhouse, waiting to see if I
can rise to the challenge of fitting it to the hopper, within the next two
weeks.
Only then will I know at last, if the hopper will work as I
had originally intended. I do hope that Barry's fears are unfounded.
Rose
(Brought
in from the Cider Workshop)
Ray
Blockley wrote:
A quick question:
Of all of those on here
who make cider / perry in a building within a few feet or yards/metres from
their back door (no more than 5 yards/metres), how many of you have got a
permanent supply of hot and cold running water *inside* the room in which you
make your cider?
I
have both, Ray, though the hot supply is only from a small electric hand wash
unit. Sound like you may have to do a quick bit of push-fit plumbing. No
problem for a fellow with your technical ability!
Actually
I have still not been visited by the E H.( We're
happily laid back here in Darset ). Unusually,
Trading Standards have also left me alone this year (so far!). Maybe they have
all had to make cut backs and can only keep up with checking out the large
foodie businesses. I hope so. Far be it from me to make a complaint!
BTW.
Did your EH people insist on a HACCP? Surely the silliest bit of bureaucracy
yet to be inflicted on a one or two person business!
Rose.