The pig has been butchered; cans of pickles, sauce, and fruit are put up for the winter; the wine is bottled; the kitchen is 98% finished with the remodel. Last weekend we finally took a step back from the bustle of autumn to host the second annual Oktoberfest at Bellfern.
Online descriptions of the official German Oktoberfest all emphasize the beer tents, which are apparently the primary feature during this festival. But since we don’t live in Germany, I thought it was fair to be a bit liberal about the focus of our festival as well, and bring it back to what is (I hope) the original sentiment of Oktoberfest: a celebration of the harvest.
The apple press was up and running, and kids and adults alike enjoyed pressing gallons of fresh juice. We served last year’s batches of fruit wine and hard cider, and we smoked a huge pork shoulder on the grill for 18 hours.
It was an evening of friends, laughter, delicious food, happy kids, a dreamy fire, and magically finished with a piano concert, because you never know what talents your friends have been hiding.
(Groovy 70s-lens photographs above by Phil Rose. Check out the rest of his gallery.)
Although I felt completely drained at the end of September, these few hours of fun on the farm refilled my well.
Bellfern Homestead 
So happy all went well. No wonder fall is our favorite time of year!
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Glad it went so well, wish I’d been there! Proud of you both.
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