It all started when I moved house and inherited an apple tree at the bottom of the garden. Prior to that, my interest in cider extended to drinking it reasonably often but with little interest in how the stuff was made.

Then out of the blue I had an apple tree which I largely ignored until around six months after we’d moved in and the autumn suddenly brought more apples than we knew what to do with. I do recall idly thinking to myself, ‘I should really have a go at making cider’, but I obviously never did.

We’re now approaching the second autumn in the house and I’ve set my heart on making good use of my windfall. A lot of research later, I’ve got a plan. Admittedly, it’s not a brilliant plan but it is a plan.

I’ve learned that single varietal ciders aren’t always amazing – although they can be, as Sxollie have demonstrated – and I’ve learned that it takes about three or four years before any apple tree I plant this year starts to bear fruit. So I’m going to plant some more apples trees and work with the only option I have this year which is to make cider with the apples from the tree I already have.

The tree isn’t in great shape, as it turns out. It hasn’t been looked after or pruned for years and is in need of a serious haircut. My research has revealed that it will take about three years of reasonably technical pruning to get it back to full health and producing an decent crop. Patience is one thing you learn when making cider.

I have also tried to figure out what type of apple tree it is that I have, but that’s turned out to be Mission Impossible. Short of sending an actual apple to a DNA specialist (which is possible, but at great expense), I’m just going to have to work with my unidentified apples and hope for the best. From memory, they were very sweet last year which isn’t the best for cider but inheritors can’t be choosers and I’m not about to complain.

Fortune favours the brave, however, as I’ve recently learned from my next door neighbour that he has a crab apple tree that produces lots of bitter little apples he can’t do anything with – but I can. So we’re doing a bit of old school bartering. A load of apples in exchange for a few bottles of cider. Amazing how life works out sometimes.