While the apple cider vinegar is brewing in the warm vinegar room, a chilly Winter wind is blowing through the orchards. It's January, and time to begin pruning the apple trees.
This year the pruning will be more drastic than usual. The South Orchard was planted 20 years ago. Some of the trees have grown too tall to harvest easily. The upper branches need to be pruned out. Over the next 3 years of careful pruning, the apples will be within easy reach once again.
I don't hand-pick the apples. I shake the ripe apples onto ground-cloths with long, hooked poles. But the trees have gotten so tall, that even the poles couldn't reach the top branches.
So, it is time to sharpen up the pruning tools, put on the hard hat and winter gloves, and begin...