The Cider Orchard Year
Watching the changes in the orchard thoughout year is a wonderful trip as the seasons come and go. Where does it start? With the dormant bare trees? The blossom in Spring? The fruitlets forming. The harvest of the apples. And then the cycle continues again. A circle without end.
Or perhaps the processing of the apples and the fermenting of the juice into cider? However the long slow maturation of the methode albion cider, on its lees is over several yearly cycles.
The wheel of time turns and the orchard matures. New trees are grafted some trees die out or have to be cut down.
The life in the orchard is rich with bird life and of course the sheep contently grazing.
This blog is now reversed in order so the most recent posts are at the top.
Celebrating our perry silver medal and award for "best in Class' - the 2020 The Earl's Drop in appropiate teeshirt!
The perry pears are growing nicely this year. Now half way to harvest already.
6th Dec 2024
8th Novermber 2024
27th February 2024
Perry Pear blossom
Crabapple blossom
23rd September 2024
Tom Putt
14th September 2024
Disgorging
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10th Jan 2001
Slap ma Girdle scion wood
16th October 2001
Grafted cider tree in newly planted orchard
7th November 2001
Rainbow over Beau Vista orchard
25th July 2004
Cold start to the day. Snow on the Tararua ranges over the Wairarapa plains
21st May 2005
Pressing the first Harvest
22nd October 2005
Removing old trees from the paddock for extending the orchard
23rd October 2005
Honey bee hives for pollination.
21st October 2011
Early photo of Beau Vista orchard. From Dalefield Road
13th September 2012
Cleft grafting perry scion wood.
1st Oct 2012
A Winter's day
15th March 2013
2013 was a dry summer
8th Sept 2013
The Shropshire sheep arrive
28th October 2013
The Taipaitangata stream (and the 7 springs creek to the side) that brings down silt from the Tararua ranges and floods the orchard periodically.
Amazingly this can dry up in late summer .
1st December 2013
Kingston Black apples
27th February 2014
The local Taipaitangata street flooding the orchard.
17th March 2014
Bringing in the apples
21st April 2014
Wildlife is important at the orchard which is organic. This Kotare ( NZ Kingfisher) stayed with us after the storm.
9th April 2014
Early bottle design
10th April 2014
Cider fermenting. In barrel cooling and temperature probe
11th April 2014
Crab apples to attract the bees as they flower earlier than the cider trees
18th April 2014
Sheep on high ground during flooding!
20th April 2014
The debris that the flood brings down to the Dalefield Road culvert over the Taipaitangata stream
4th October 2014
Apple blossom
14th December 2014
Newly planted hedge for flood and wind barrier
11th January 2015
The Roto-Jolly gets its first use.
15th January 2015
The lees are all settled into the bottle neck
3rd October 2022
Pear blossom
6th December 2022
Beech hedge enclosure to the apple orchard
7th July 2023
Cold in the orchard in winter
30th August 2023
Perry pear blossom
20th September 2023
Sampling cider apples at Perry's cider orchard with Liz Copas and James Crowden
27th October 2023
Cider apple blossom
28th October 2023
Apple blossom
4th November 2023
Shropshire sheep grazing on the spring grass
5th November 2023
Home from the NZ Cider Festival in Hastings with Gold and other awards
10th November 2023
Moody spring weather
14th November 2023
Riddling 2020 perry after 2years secondary fermentation
18th November 2023
Buttercups in the orchard swath
7th January 2024
measuring inbottle pressure during secondary fermentation
2nd March 2024
Perry pears. The harvest begins
6th March 2024
Sunset over the Tararua ranges behing TeePee Cider
8th March 2024
Kingston Black apples ready to harvest
The new enlarged apple processing area operational this season
First wash of apples
First cull of rots on apple ladder
Second wash and cull of rots
Pomace from the scratter
9th March 2024
Building the cheese of pomace
8th March 2024
The long apple picking ladder
Bringing the apples out of the orchard into the cider shed
15th March 2024
Storm brewing over the orchard
19th March 2024. A mix of Ellis Bitter and Michilin in the first wash
A mix of Ellis Bitter and Michelin in the first wash
24th March 2024
Lichen probably Usnea barrata growing on the apple trees in our clean Wairarapa air
24th March 2024
Ripe Northwood apples in the evening sun
13th April 2024 Attended the Japan Cider Cup
8th May 2024 Bletting the Medlars
17th June 2024
And at opitimal ripeness after bletting. Medlar paste to be added to the cider for further fermentation.
26th May 2024. Wintertime
the last stragglers!
8th June 2024
Winetopia. TeePee Cider and Esses Wine were asked to battle "Apples versus Grapes". Time to have a hard hat on! All in good taste. Mel and I finished agreeing it was a draw.
19th June 2024 Annual orchard pruning bonfire. The ash is returned to the orchard. The prunings have been drying from last year and provide habitat for wildlife during that period.
11th June 2024. The orchard is dormant with next years buds resting.
