By Ty Walker
The Mountain Times
The third Saturday of September is almost here. That means only one thing at the historic Philip Foster Farm. The Cider Squeeze is on. Yes, it’s apple pressing time.
So mark your calendars for Saturday, Sept. 21, and pack your bags with apples because cider season is here. The annual Cider Squeeze is one of the major fundraisers for the historical farm site in Estacada.
You can get hands-on experience turning apples into fresh cider on one of the eight antique presses provided for the event. There will also be many other activities for kids and adults, including crafts, games, live music, dancing, tours of the historic houses, building log cabins, grinding corn, sawing wood, as well as food and vendors.
“We are a hands-on interactive historical site so we like people to come experience stuff,” Farm Program Director Jennifer Goldman said.
Philip Foster Farm will open an hour early for the Cider Squeeze, running from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the one-day event. In general, If you want to bring cider home, it costs $3 a gallon to press your own apples and $10 a gallon to press apples provided by the farm.
Philip Foster was an early Oregon pioneer whose farm dates back to the 1840s. He is probably best known for helping Samuel Barlow create Barlow Road, an alternate route on the Oregon Trail. Travelers wanting to avoid the dangerous Mighty Columbia River would take Barlow Road around Mount Hood.
“Foster actually rescued Samuel Barlow and his people on the mountain,” Goldman said.
Foster bought the 640-acre land claim in 1847, building a store, house, barn and other structures at the farm. The farmhouse and barn still stand, and replicas of the store, blacksmith shop and log cabin have been built on the site.
The farm has one of the oldest remaining houses on the Oregon Trail. Built for Foster’s oldest daughter in 1860, it has been restored along with a house built in 1883 for his son. A replica of the 1851 Eagle Creek Schoolhouse, the oldest public school west of the Mississippi River, was completed a couple of years ago on the original site.
About 5,000 schoolchildren visit Philip Foster Farm each year. It’s located at 22725 SE Eagle Creek Road in Eagle Creek at the end of Barlow Road.
The farm is a private nonprofit organization funded by tours, camps and generous donations.
Three part-time staff and “lots of unbelievable volunteers” run the operation, Goldman said.
Go visit and bring your apples!