Trees & Barrels
Grafting
Late winter, just as the sap begins to rise, is the time for grafting. Apples grown from pips do not grow true to their parent (scion), so differe...
Bees
Bees help pollinate our apples and pears, and every year we rent hives from a local beekeeper. During a warm spring day when the apple trees are i...
Apples
We grow about 30 different varieties of cider apple. We are still working out which do well in the Moutere and make good cider to boot. Some of ou...
Planting
This is what happens when you hand a zany teenager a video recorder, and ask her to document a day's apple planting (2011).
Harvest
At harvest we need hands. Our fruit is picked by hand. Some from the tree, some shaken to the ground and gathered up from there. It is hard work, ...
Spring
Spring in the orchard - no need to say much - blossom, bees, lambs, fresh succulent young leaves. In spring you start to get a feel for the balanc...
Winter
The cider is made and we wait. The leaves are off the trees and it is time for orchard work. Time to prune, mend wires and posts, to plant and to ...
Summer
Summer in the Moutere can be dry and hot. We are circled by mountains, and on some days when the earth is parched and the trees need a drink, we c...
Autumn
The frenzy of harvest is here. Our climate is warmer than the environments from which most of our cider varieties hail. The days are still hot, an...
Use left/right arrows to navigate the slideshow or swipe left/right if using a mobile device