When the Harvest Overflows: Apples, History, and Cider

When the Harvest Overflows: Apples, History, and Cider

The story of apples beyond their season and the press that keeps them flowing.

Every fall, apple trees across the world tell the same story: a rush of abundance that ripens all at once. For as long as people have tended orchards, the challenge has been the same—how to stretch that harvest beyond a few short weeks. Centuries ago, families in Europe would tuck apples into straw-lined cellars, carefully layering them in wooden crates to keep them crisp through the dark of winter. In the Middle East, apples were sliced thin and left to dry in the sun, turning into chewy, sweet chips that carried the memory of the season long after the trees were bare. Farther north, in the cold of Russia and Scandinavia, apples were sometimes packed into barrels of brine or sealed in earthen pits, a rustic insurance policy against hunger. Just today at the farm stand, I met a woman from Bulgaria who told me that when she was growing up, they would dig great pits, line them with ferns, fill them with apples, and cover the whole thing with a tarp. Buried under the snow, those apples would stay good all winter long. Every culture found its way to keep the fruit alive past its moment, each method born of necessity and creativity.

Of all these traditions, cider has perhaps the longest reach. The earliest written records of fermented apple drinks trace back to the Romans, who found Celtic tribes in Britain drinking a rough form of cider nearly two thousand years ago. In Normandy and Asturias, cider became part of the very identity of the region, celebrated in festivals and poured from great heights to aerate the drink. When Europeans crossed the Atlantic, they brought apple seeds with them, and within a generation cider was the drink of choice in the American colonies—safer than water, easier to store than milk, and nourishing enough to serve from breakfast to supper. John Adams was said to drink a tankard every morning, and for a century or more, cider was woven into the rhythm of everyday life.

Cider was more than a drink; it was a way of preserving the apple harvest. Fresh fruit is fleeting, but juice transformed into cider could carry families through long winters and keep the taste of the orchard alive in every season. It’s a tradition rooted in practicality but celebrated for its joy—a farmer’s insurance policy that became a community’s toast.

Join Us for Cider Pressing at the Farm

That tradition lives on here. Beginning the weekend of September 13th, we’ll be bringing out the press at the farm. Pressing will be available Fridays from 4–7pm and Saturdays and Sundays from 10am–2pm. Come pick your own apples, roll up your sleeves, and press them into fresh cider right here in the orchard. There’s something timeless about the act: the heft of apples tipped into the hopper, the scent of juice running fresh, the froth spilling over the rim of a cup.

So mark your calendars, gather your friends, and come be part of the story. The apples are ready, the press is waiting, and the cider is about to flow.