Levi's Nuts

I'm back in Alaska again, but I still have stories and photos to share from my trip south. This story is about Levi and the Nuts.

When I was a kid growing up on the farm, one of my least favorite jobs was picking up the nuts in the orchard. Now really, it's not that bad of a job, but you know how kids are! Well, now that us kids are gone, my Dad got this handy, dandy, go-go gadget, and the grandkids get to use it.....

It reminds me SO much of that old Fisher Price Corn Popper Toy we used to play with when we were kids..

Here are some photos of Levi and the go-go gadget in action....See the Filberts on the ground?

Here he comes to get them....

There they go, into the go-go gadget...

Oops, he missed a few...I guess he didn't push down hard enough....

Try again, Levi....

Now you're getting the hang of it!

Okay Levi, now try some English Walnuts....

Look over here....

That's right, come and get it....

Keep your eye on the Walnut...

There it goes!

 Look, he's making a "gulping/gobbling/munching/noshing/nom-nom" noise with his mouth here...

And then, just like a man, once he got the hang of it he had to test the limits of the go-go gadget and see how many nuts he could pick up at one time!

Yes, Levi....that's truly amazing....very impressive.

Once the go-go gadget is full you empty it by wedging it onto another gadget that is hooked on a bucket...

As you push down the wires spread apart and the nuts fall into the bucket....

That's a lot of nuts!

Levi thought this gadget was the greatest thing ever......he helped my Dad pick up all the nuts in the orchard.....

And he even acted like he thought it was FUN!!!!!

The Grapes And Greats

THE GRAPES

At some point during the cider making process I wandered over to the nearby Grape vine to see if there were any Grapes left. Dad had mentioned to me earlier that he had picked the Grapes and made Grapejuice, but I was hoping there were some left in the hard-to-reach places....and I wasn't disappointed!

I had Ben and Emily pick a few so they could taste some grapes fresh off the vine....

I told them to wallow the Grapes around in their mouths and then spit out the peelings and seeds.....

I heard Ben say something like, "WOW!...these grapes are so sweet.....and they don't taste like anything I've ever tasted before!" I told him that it wasn't surprising..... that the vine was very old.... that it's an heirloom variety.....and that the Grapes you buy at the grocery store have been hybridized over and over for premium shelf life and appearance so they taste completely different. My Dad says that the vine has been growing there for longer than he can remember.

So the kids got enthused and started clipping and clipping and they ended up clipping about 15 gallons of Grapes and my Dad helped them make Grape juice!

Fresh Grape Juice is so delicious!

THE GREATS

My parents have 4 great-grandchildren....they are all my Brother's grandchildren....which makes them my greats!  The greats call me GAL (aka Great Aunt Lori).

  On cider-making day they could be found all over the farm.....under, on top of, and running through!

And Gramma-Great was the official baby holder....

They're pretty great!

The Cider And The Doughnuts

After we picked all of the apples......

..... we headed over to the garage where my folks store the cider press.

This cider press belonged to my Dad's Grandpa. It has seen a lot of use over the years.....it was originally designed as a hand crank, and then my Dad's Dad rigged it up to the tractor with a belt, and then someone borrowed it and rigged it up with an electric motor. It has had been modified, repaired, and shored up.....and just keeps making cider.

The first step in making cider was to cut every apple in half to inspect them for bad spots and worms.....

And look who showed up to help......fresh from college.......Levi!

There seemed to be a wide range of opinions on what constitutes a "bad spot". Some folks just throw them in bad spots and all, some folks like to cut out the worst spots, and some folks won't tolerate a single blemish. I don't think we ever came to complete agreement....everyone in our family is quite opinionated!  So we just all did whatever we wanted to and they all got thrown in together! We called worms, "Protein".

Next, we fired up the cider press and dumped the processed apples into the hopper for the grinder....

The grinder shredded the apples and dropped them into a bucket that's made out of wooden slats....

When the bucket was full we pulled it forward....

And put on the lid.

The screw jack that operates the press plate has gone up and down so many times in its lifetime that the threads are worn out, so now we use a car jack to do the pressing....

It's helpful to insert a metal plate at this point....

And the squeeze was on!

Just look at the cider flow! So natural, so nutritious, and so delicious!

And while we were doing that.....my nieces were inside doing this.....

That's right people.....homemade doughnuts!

Pumpkin doughnuts and Apple Fritters!  And yes, they were as delicious as they looked! The girls brought them out to us piping hot while we worked outside. It doesn't get much better than that.

Funny how the word spreads and close neighbors and relatives start showing up out of the woodwork!

It was a fun, fun day, and I loved it that everyone felt welcome to stop by.  My family is nice that way!