By Ben Ruth
I turn fruit like apples into booze so that it doesn’t go to waste. It increases the fruit’s shelf life, I love the process, and it tastes amazing. At this time of year, when a lot of fruit ripens all at once, charities and food banks can only give away so much before it spoils.
People love sharing fruit with their families and neighbours, but if you have a tree producing 100 kilos of apples, it can feel like a burden. Making juice and cider turns it into a positive and produces something to share.
Since I was a kid, I’ve loved foraging. Seeing fruit rotting on the ground gave me the idea to make cider, so in 2019 I read some books, took a couple of fermenting courses and got the fruit-processing gear – a mill and a hydropress. You can’t put 100 kilos of apples in a little kitchen blender, and this equipment fits in the car, so I can bring it to allotments, gardens and events.
To make juice, you mill the apples and then press the pulp. Typically, 80 kilos of apples will produce about 50 litres of juice. The best apples I’ve found in Lancaster are actually on the trees at Ryelands primary school. The kids love throwing them in the mill, and they can drink the juice straight from the press. I get to keep half the juice to make into cider, and give some bottles to the staff.
During the Share the Harvest festival, you can bring your own apples and see them transformed into tasty juice at the FoodFutures Harvest Feast at Kanteena on Sunday 7 September, and at Christ Church Apple Fest on Saturday 20 September.
If you’d like to book the apple press for your own event, or want more information about Share the Harvest, you can contact Jay Godden or find out more at foodfutures.org.uk/share-the-harvest.
You can also borrow extendable fruit pickers and other handy harvesting tools free of charge from Eggcup. And if you have more seasonal fruit than you and your neighbours can eat, you can drop it off at one of the Eggcup hubs in Lancaster, Morecambe and Carnforth. Visit eggcup.org for locations and opening hours.
Ben Ruth has a background in ecology and environmental testing. He is a musician and founder of Lancaster Music Festival and loves juicing fruit and making booze as a hobby.
