Last Sunday, LEAP hosted its first ever Apples & Acorns event in Hurt Park Community Garden. It began with folks harvesting a variety of apples from the trees that line the garden. The biggest apples were the highest in the trees; the telescoping arm of a bright red fruit picker was the best way to reach them.

After picking, participants could peruse a table filled with acorns, chestnuts, and hickory nuts. Blacksburg-based forager Em Shawish, creator of For the Love of Foraging: A Guide to Wild Food and Medicine of Southwest Virginia, invited event-goers to crush, peel, and taste the nuts -- straight from baskets and processed into foods like hickory milk and acorn flour cookies.

Then it was time to turn the big metal crank of an old fashioned cider press. People took turns, sharing the work. Making cider is a two-step process, first, the apples are turned to mush, then the mush is pressed into juice. All of it is human powered.We shared a potluck meal along with our cups of super sweet cider. How amazing to drink a beverage 100 percent grown and pressed on the tiny footprint of a community garden!

Hoping for another chance to see this fun cider press in action? It will make appearances at Harvest Fests held at Grandin Village Farmers Market (Saturday, Oct. 26, from 8 am to noon) and West End Farmers Market (Tuesday, Oct. 29, from 3-6 pm). Hope you can join us!