Students pick apples, make cider at Land Lab
Students picked apples for nearly an hour and a half, according to Plant the Revolution President Abby Magruder. Photo by Seth Roeser
Plant the Revolution held its annual apple picking and cider making event at the UMD Land Lab on Friday, Oct. 4 at 5 p.m. Students picked from, climbed and shook trees to fill their buckets full of apples to be used for hot apple cider, which they made immediately following the picking.
“I think the turnout was the best,” Plant the Revolution Vice President Emma Hill said. “I like that so many people came and had fun picking apples.”
According to Hill, the orchard’s apples were noticeably smaller and fewer compared to ones picked at last year’s event.
“We kind of attribute that to the weird spring that we had, where it was really wet and then really dry all of a sudden,” Hill said. “We do have a different apple orchard on the Land Lab side, and those apples are actually doing really well.”
Land Lab Manager John Beaton said the difference in size and yield may be explained by the cyclical nature of apple production.
“I think that was common to a lot of apple growers this year, even my trees didn’t produce that much,” Beaton said. “I think it was just kind of a bad apple year, and last year was pretty good. They kind of cycle in every other year where they will yield in a bumper crop way.”
Unlike last year’s cider making event – which used RSOP’s apple press – this year’s apples were chopped up and thrown into a stock pot of boiling water with a blend of spices. The apple and spice mix boiled for two or three hours before being drained.
The spice mix included cinnamon, allspice and cloves. Photo courtesy of Amareh Haley
“It was pretty good, I think we need to figure out our spice mix a little bit, but it was pretty good,” Plant the Revolution President Abby Magruder said. “It was a little bit different than if we had used the press, but it was really good.”
For more information about Plant the Revolution, visit their CampusGroups page. Included below are more photos from the event.
Students were treated to a tour of the Land Lab after the apple picking had stopped and the cider was being made. Photo by Seth Roeser
Despite the thumbs down, fourth year psychology major David Kusnierek described his experience as “definitely worth it.” Photo by Seth Roeser
Even though this year appeared to be a slower year for apples, Plant the Revolution had more than enough for cider making. Photo courtesy of Emma Hill
Students drank their cider around a bonfire at the Land Lab at the end of the day. Photo courtesy of Emma Hill