July 2016 Meeting: Visit to The Cider Farm

Dierdre Birmingham talks
about The Cider Farm

As our club president Judy Campbell remarked, the word cider will never have the same connotation after our amazing trip to The Cider Farm in rural Mineral Point. What an incredible operation!



Deirdre Birmingham, who with her husband John Biondi, founded the organically managed orchard, gave a presentation on their operation then led a tour of the orchards followed by a cider-tasting!

Deirdre and John spent 10 years on their 166 acres, turning an old dairy farm into their apple orchard, before they produced their first cider in 2013. Because the varieties they grow are not commercially available (they are English), Birmingham and Biondi painstakingly hand-graft their trees.

Dierdre leads a tour of the orchard

We were able to view the expanse of acreage that the two have cleared, see small trees in stages of grafting, the cider press set-up, and of course, the orchards themselves.

The post-tour cider tasting - a special treat! 

Special Note:

The Cider Farm has been featured on two Wisconsin Public Television programs:

Around the Farm Table
(http://video.wpt.org/video/2365336544/)

and Wisconsin Life
(http://video.wpt.org/video/2365353220)


And be sure to visit their website at theciderfarm.com.

Thank you to Dierdre for a wonderful visit.