HORTONVILLE — Our 4-H group enjoyed our visit to Ostrander’s Orchard in Beach Lake, PA shortly before Thanksgiving. It is a family business that had started as a farm and orchard, and in the 1960s Walter Ostrander added the cider mill. Today, his son Steven and wife, Kathleen own the orchard with their daughter Kimberly and husband, Timothy Gumble running it. Their orchard has 110 apple trees that yield 15-20 varieties of apples with the Northern Spy variety being one of the oldest. When they bought the massive wooden 60 ton hydraulic press for their business, they had to build the building around the press after it was delivered.  

Our group helped roll the apples onto the large conveyer belt where they would be washed first before going into the grinder and dropped as pulp onto large slats. Each slat holds 4 bushels, and they have 4 slats so they are able to press 16 bushels at a time. Prior to being pressed, you have to make sure each slat is carefully wrapped in pressing cloth (straining material) or you may end up being covered in pulp as they start being pressed! At the peak season, approximately 16-24 bushels are pressed per weekend. It takes about an hour to press 70 gallons of delicious apple cider. 

At the end of our tour we were all able to choose an apple variety to try, I chose the Northern Spy, and it is now one of my favorites.