Fresh apple cider is just a shade or two darker than the grasses on Missoula's North Hills this time of year.
The apples themselves - red, yellow and green - reflect the colors in the trees, just starting to show more fiery shades as summer fades.
Organizers were expecting 250 for dinner at the old farm, a turn-of-the-century homestead that is now city property. The dinner of local meats, homemade soups, fresh pies, cider and beer is the homestead's annual fund-raiser. Run by the nonprofit Hill and Homestead Preservation Coalition (a project of the North Missoula Community Development Corp.), the farm relies on the annual event to fund activities throughout the year.
There are plenty of places to explore at the old homestead, inside and out, including the still-producing apple orchard.
But in the early afternoon Saturday, it was all about the cider and small children waiting their turn at the old Randolph family cider press.
The homestead orchard didn't produce much of a crop this year, so most of the apples were donated. But they were for the most part local - and some, according to one volunteer, had been gleaned by folks going door-to-door asking homeowners if they planned on using the apples in their trees.
Meg Hart arrived with her husband Eric Hart and daughter Emma Bloom as part of a family outing. And, she said, it was a chance to "meet more of our community and make stronger bonds."
Emma Bloom, 18 months, took advantage of the fresh juice and found an apple of her own to munch on.
She also found a number of new friends among the dozen-or-so toddlers who also came with their parents to play on the farm and watch the fresh cider pour into buckets from the bottom of the old press. The buckets were poured through a strainer into gallon jugs which were quickly emptied into white cups handed out to eager tasters, Emma Bloom and her parents among them.
The homestead will be open to visitors every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. through the end of October. It will go quiet for the winter and reopen again in April, just in time for all the excitement of spring.
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