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The Tip is 'Teach Grandchildren' One day, while I was on the Made In America Secrets site my granddaughter noticed and asked me what I was doing. I told her about the Big Secret and as I explained, she began to ask me more questions. After several minutes she left my office to play with her little sister. Months had gone by and until recently, I had forgotten about that moment. She was visiting again and I was talking to her about buying a custom printed T-Shirt. She immediately told me about a website that I could use to buy one. Wow I thought, she is only eight years old and already teaching me. The most amazing thing then happened, she said "Pops they sell Made In America T-Shirts". Thanks to her I purchased six custom Made In USA T-Shirts. Her name is Britton, she understands the Big Secret and I love it when she tells me her Little Secrets! Now she is ten and writing a screenplay called Mertastic. It is a story about a mermaid. Recently, she was visiting our house again and using my computer. She called me to come into my office and of course I came to her because that is what grandparents love to do. One of the reasons I love to be with her is because it is always interesting to see what she is up to. This time, she needed a mermaid tail for her movie, so we began to look around using Google. Her mother is a talented seamstress and will make the tail so we were looking for fabric that would be satisfy my granddaughter's vision of her mermaid tail. Once again we began to talk about Made in America and therefore started to investigate the country of origin of the fabrics she was considering. Because of that experience Made in USA fabric is now one of Made in America Secrets products. Thank you, Britton. Buying Tip Continued - Read more on Made in America Products by JK Skrumpy This Original Hard-Cider has been made on our family-owned farm in Flushing, Michigan for well over a hundred years. It was first pressed back in the 1850's. Not much as changed in the process since then. We use the same apples from the same orchards as my great-great grandfather did before the time of the Civil War. We are proud of that. It gives us a sense of history. The cider has played an important role in the ongoing history of our farm. The sale of cider actually saved our farm during the Great Depression. And, during the Prohibition people came from far and wide for our Special Farm Cider. We grow vegetables and fruits here at Almar, but our cider has kept us in business when times have gotten tough. Regretfully, it seems that history has a habit of repeating itself? These past few years, many of our nation's orchards have closed their barn doors and orchard gateways as the influx of apple juice made from cheap concentrates arrive in the USA from China and South America. Some call it a sign of the times, and others seem to appreciate the bargain at the grocery store. VIDEO DOWNLOAD For a mpeg-format view/download of Jim Koan's Organic Apple Production video [23MB], click here or the image above. To download, click-right and Save As. All I can say is that our Orchard Gate Gold is the real thing. It's not a made using or contains product. IT IS REAL CIDER. Pure, natural and uniquely flavorful. We grow, harvest, and press the apples right here on the farm. It is time-consuming, labor-intensive and worth every bit of what it takes to make it. Our cider is not only natural, it is truly organic. It always has been. It's simply a fact of what we do - and how we do it. We use no insecticides in the farm orchards. Rather, I do what my grandfather did. I have a large flock of guinea fowl that wander about and eat the bugs. Fallen apples that have hit the ground are always a food source for pests, so I let my Berkshire pigs wander the orchard and eat the fallen apples. In a fast-paced, instant gratification society all this may seem a little old fashioned, or not cost-effective. But, we have a cider that is not like any other, and the idea of playing around with what makes that happen... well, it just ain't part of the plan |
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