Well the frost this week probably took care of the garden and most of the flowerbeds, but there is still plenty to harvest in late September and October.

Cabbage, broccoli and brussel sprouts are all frost hardy vegetables that can withstand a little cold weather. My grandmother always used to say that the brussel sprouts tasted sweeter after they had a frost or two hit them. Besides the pumpkins and hubbard squash laying out in the fields, apples and pears are ripening up for the season.

In my travels, I have seen a great many apple trees laden with an abundance of fruit this year, both in the orchards and in the wild. Wild apples although not as big as their domestic cousins are just as sweet as the backyard varieties.

Whether it is a wild or domestic apple, one thing is for sure, fall is apple cider time. Historically all cider was left in its natural state, unprocessed. In time, airborne yeasts present on apple skins or cider making machinery would start fermentation in the finished cider. Left on its own, alcohol would develop and inhibit the growth of any harmful bacteria.

When modern refrigeration emerged, cider and other fruit juices could be kept cold for long periods of time, stunting fermentation. Even with refrigeration, raw cider will begin to become slightly carbonated within a week or so and eventually become hard cider as the fermentation process continues.

As a result, natural raw cider is a seasonal beverage, produced on-site at orchards and small rural mills in apple growing areas and sold there and at farmers' markets. Such traditional cider is typically made from a mixture of several different apples to give a balanced taste.

When I was a kid, my parents would take me to the North Branch Cider Mill during pressing season for some great local cider. The mill has been closed for years, but I have heard talk that someone might be bringing it back to life. I was by the old building last year and some of the old cider press could still be seen through the windows.

Modern cider making has come a long way from early forms of production that involved a man or horse powered crusher. These consisted of a stone or wood trough with a heavy circulating wheel to crush the fruit, and a large manual screw press to express the juice from the pulp. Straw was commonly used to contain the pulp during pressing, later replaced by coarse cloth.

Frequently blends of heirloom varieties such as Winesap, Haralson and Northern Spy are used for that traditional tangy taste. But now there are new varieties that are being blended into the mix, like Gala, Fuji and Honeycrisp, to give the cider a sweeter taste.

Depending on the varieties of apples it takes about a bushel to make a gallon of cider, just in case you were wondering. Because unpasteurized cider can contain bacteria, the Federal Government requires warning labels on the product stating that fact.

Since natural cider will ferment, some producers use this fermentation to make hard cider. Hard cider has gained in popularity in the U.S. since the early two-thousands. Hundreds of companies have jumped on the band-wagon to get into the cider market. Locally, Angry Orchard in Wallkill, is the closest major producer, but many new smaller producers are opening every year, like Seminary Hill in Callicoon.

And then there is still others that carry the fermentation process to the next level, acetification, to create artisanal apple cider vinegar. Here, apples are brought in for processing, they are crushed, pressed, and the juice separated. The juice is most often stored in a tank where the first fermentation process begins.

In a second fermentation step, the alcohol is converted into vinegar by acetic acid-forming bacteria. Acetic acid and malic acid combine to give vinegar its sour taste. Apple cider vinegar with the “mother” is vinegar that has an undefined microbial culture left in it prior to distilling and pasteurization. The “mother” looks like a pile of cobwebs in the bottom of the bottle.

There are a lot of holistic medicinal claims to taking apple cider vinegar, but none have been scientifically proven. But I guess if you are going to take it, you might as well go for the good stuff with the “mother”, just like the Tequila with the worm.