This is GD’s baby newly arrived at the weekend. Its a Virgo apple press. GD has been lovesick for this for years reading and re reading the info pamphlets.We saw one at the edible garden show at the Alley Pally, up close and on offer, and there was no turning back.There was such an order for them they ran out of stock and we have had to wait a fair few weeks for arrival, but now it is here. I’v been under the impression its an apple press, the menfolk of the clan seem to think it is for the sole production of cider.. hmm, At the weekend there was a storm straight through the hallway, out the back door down to the shed, as the menfolk arrived for a meal of chilli dogs, no huggy hello kisses, just where is it and vrmmm and their dust trail. So there she is waiting for the apples trees to give their fruit, we are fortunate to have an orchard garden up the road that after the annual apple picking day you can get bags of their orchard apples. So find your apples, quarter them, feed them to the crusher on top of the press and turn the wheel,  remove the crusher and turn down the spindle on top of the press, out flows the collected juice from a channel at the bottom of the press. Collect your apple juice, which then gets drunk fresh, frozen or heated for pasteurising which means holding a certain temperature for a certain time for longer keeping juice, or made into cider which means adding yeast and leaving to ferment. See the picture of my own little apple tree bless her, no pressure to produce there. My mum used to have wonderful apple trees in her garden, cooker and eaters, every year we would be excited to go and pick the apples, every year she would buy us copious bags of apples from the supermarket, she would say she didn’t want us eating the apples from the garden as we didn’t know what was in them,  but from the supermarket you could be sure!. Funny old world isn’t it.