AUDUBON – A massive fruit press, brought to Audubon from California’s wine country, will be squeezing free and fresh apple juice on Saturday, Sept. 10, as part of the inaugural Apple Fest.

Gottenborg Apple Orchard in Audubon will also serve apple brats, apple pie and have chemical-free apples to pluck from Zestar and SweeTango trees.

The orchard opens at 9 a.m. and the juice press is set to start around 2:30 p.m. Volunteers are needed, as the apple press requires upwards of 1,000 pounds of apple to produce about 100 gallons of juice in a single push.

“I’m looking forward to pulling the lever,” said Orchard owner David Gottenborg.

Volunteers are needed to ensure the lever is pulled. Volunteers will be picking apples with imperfections and slicing the nicks, dents and spots from the apple. Those apples will be added to the juicing pile.

There is no admission, nor charge for the juice because the event is a celebration, Gottenborg explained.

“(Apple Fest) is about having fun,” Gottenborg said. “Everything can’t be about money.”

Gottenborg Apple Orchard is located in Audubon. Once in Audubon, head south on County Road 11, then take Audubon Lake Road west to the end of the road, where an apple farm sign greets visitors.

Gottenborg met a family that owned a grape orchard in California’s wine country. He enjoyed their Zinfandel wine and continued to visit his new friends during the next several years.

After a devastating fire in wine country took the house of Gottenborg’s friends, they decided to sell their land. At that time, he explained that he would be interested in the fruit press, which had been in operation at the winery the past 60 to 70 years. When the land was sold, the family reached out to Gottenborg and said the press was his, but he had to transport it.

Gottenborg made necessary arrangements and brought the massive, heavy press to its new home last year and placed a tarp over it for the winter. This past June, a shelter was built over the press. Recently, he had an electrician wire the machine, as it runs off a generator. He also chatted with the original owners to learn about the press. A successful test run followed, which gave a green light to the orchard’s inaugural Apple Fest celebration.

Gottenborg, who resides in Pelican Rapids with his wife Kimberly (a sixth grade teacher at Pelican Rapids High School), plans to start the press around 2:30 p.m. The juice will begin flowing into a special burlap bag that keeps the pulp in and lets the juice flow freely into containers with minimal sentiment. He said the process may take upwards of 40 minutes, and that he will provide the containers.

Gottenborg’s venture into becoming an orchardist started more than 20 years ago. He met a man who offered freshly picked Honeycrisp and Zestar apples. After biting into them, his taste buds savored the flavor. Soon after, he sought out apple trees to plant.

Gottenborg learned about a program through the University of Minnesota that was developing delicious hybrid apples that combined popular flavors. The trees were only offered to growers, he said, adding the relationship between the university and growers is mutually beneficial. While he gets a unique product to offer, the research facility collects a fee, which provides continuous funding for research and hybrid development.

Growing up in Audubon, the 1977 Audubon High School graduate had about 56 tillable acres on family land that his parents (Robert and Phyllis Gottenborg of Detroit Lakes) purchased in 1966. He decided several years ago that the land provided space for an apple orchard and decided to pursue the opportunity.

Gottenborg Apple Orchard offers the legendary Honeycrisp, Zestar, SweeTango, Haroldson, McIntosh, Chestnut crabapple, SnowSweet and the newest addition, First Kiss.

First Kiss, is a cross between Honeycrisp and an apple from Arkansas known as AA44. It is the 27th variety to be released by the University of Minnesota’s apple breeding program, according to a University of Minnesota news article.

The First Kiss offers the texture of Honeycrisp and a tart and tangy flavor, which made it a hit when it went to market in 2018.

Gottenborg said his First Kiss apples won’t be available for another two years, as he makes his fruit trees wait four years before bearing fruit to ensure the tree’s root system is strong.

The Pelican Rapids Rotarian said he doesn’t use harsh chemicals on his apple trees. To ensure the tree is healthy he conducts leaf tests twice a year. He explained, just as if someone submitted a blood sample, the leaf test gives details on what nutrients the tree may be lacking.

Gottenborg Apple Orchard is typically open Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., starting the last weekend in August and going until the last weekend of October, depending on weather.

“Apple season hits when you think of flannel and pumpkins,” he said.