A couple of days ago, it was super hot so we decided to take a trip to Motunau beach and go for a dip. We were walking back to the car when Lyndal spotted a huge collection of apple trees on the side of a cliff off of the path. We already had a collection of foraged apples in the back of the car, to go press at Sue and Neville’s, some friends of the farm, so we picked a few bucket’s worth and headed to Scargill. Sue and Neville live completely on their own accord. They have 3 windmills that power their water pumps but otherwise live off the grid. They built their own house and everything on their property and they’re certified organic and completely self-sufficient. Neville built his own apple grinder out of a repurposed garbage disposal and was happy to help us use it. He attached it with a ring of accordion folded sheet metal into a larger PVC pipe and attached it at a 45 degree angle onto a block of wood that he could attach to the bench of his table. He also forged a spout and had a special blade cut just for the garbage disposal that he designed himself.

We spent about an hour and a half cutting the apples, grinding them, and pressing them in a hand press. Neville’s ingenuity and creativity was stunning. He lives in a world where you can’t just go to a store and buy some machine you need, so it’s necessary to learn how to design and make things yourself.