In September, a group of friends were invited to the farm of someone that our group knew up in Sonoma County. The farmer invited us to come camp out in his grove of fruit trees, pick apples, spend the night, and then make apple cider the next day. Someone in our group had all the necessary apple pressing/cider making supplies. It was a great way to spend a weekend - we picked apples for ourselves, and helped the farmer pick his other crops.
What I really enjoyed about this experience was the collective effort. We all worked together to pick the apples, cook the meals, and make the cider. One person brought the apple cider-making equipment, another person brought a solar oven and made an apple pie. The farmer generously donated his apples and his land do us in exchange for some farm labor and apple cider. We learned how to make apple cider. At the end of the weekend, everyone went home with a gallon or two of fresh-pressed apple cider.
Consider seeing if you can start up a similar campout with your friends. Maybe someone has fruit trees that they need help picking, a vegetable garden that they need harvesting? Or even an animal that needs to be butchered? Although there are classes offered in many places, sometimes they are expensive. With the right place and the right combination of people, you could create a collective effort that doesn't cost a lot of money.
(Images: Kathryn Hill)
Eileen's Beachside Oasis Kitchen
How to Make Fresh Pasta Dough in the Food Processor
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Floral Drink Dispen...
Small Cool Lessons: Discovering Small Space Design Ideas That Really Work
Marisa and Peter's Playfully Eclectic Home
Wow, every aspect of this trip sounds and looks so awesome! I hope to do something like this one day.
Ah, nostalgia! I grew up in the area and used to visit the apple farms in Sebastopol for cider and pie.
I pressed cider for the first time this fall! My friends do a lot of work for a small non-profit planting orchards in unused urban space. They had a apple festival and brought a press. It was amazing and really easy. So fresh and delicious, it sort of ruined me for the bottled version.
I used to do this with my grandfather in upstate NY, he had apple trees up on the hill and an antique cider press. If I ever move back upstate I want to do that with my kids.
For 30 years (almost my entire life), my family has spent a weekend each October making cider with friends in Maine. Those are some of my happiest memories over the years -- and I am truly ruined for store-bought cider, which is typically pasteurized and tastes completely different. I do hope my kids (which I do not have yet) will be able to experience it too!
I can understand why the collective effort was the most appealling part of the weekend. I wish that sense of community could carry over into day to day activities like tending the garden, cooking, childcare. As usual the pictures are lovely and tell a great story.