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Field Guide No. 07

Cold-Pressed Juice

What the garden gives us more of than the table can sell gets pressed the morning it's picked. Eight combos, one rule, and the slow-press order that makes them work.

By Brandon Mills, Corner Harvest

Pale green cucumber juice pouring from a slow press into a clear pitcher
Cucumber, pressed the morning it was picked
The slow masticating press on the counter with a watermelon behind it
The slow press — quiet, dry pulp, no heat
Dry pulp coming out of the side of the press into a container
Dry pulp means the juice is in the cup

Why there's juice on the table

A garden makes more of some things than a stand can sell before they turn. Cucumbers come in flushes, melons ripen the same week, and the mint never stops. Those used to go to the chickens. Now they go through the press the morning they're picked, into a dated 16-ounce cup, and sell for three days at their best. Day three unsold becomes syrup for the pizza-night mocktails and the sorbet. Nothing in the fridge becomes garbage; it changes shelf.

The only rule: base, star, lift

Every cup has three parts. A base for volume, a star for flavor, a lift for brightness. One of each. Four ingredients is the ceiling.

LIFT · 10%STAR · 30%BASE · 60%
One of each, four ingredients at most
  • Base — volume
    cucumber · watermelon · apple · carrot · celery
  • Star — flavor
    grapefruit · pineapple · beet · orange
  • Lift — brightness
    lime · lemon · ginger · mint

Cucumber on its own tastes like cold water with a garden in it. Give it a lime and a few mint leaves and it becomes a drink. That is the whole trick.

80%
of a cucumber's weight comes back as juice
watermelon is the same
60–70%
for apple, celery, pineapple and peeled citrus
the soft middle
50%
for carrot and beet
dense roots give less, taste more
3 days
at its best in the fridge, dated
then it becomes syrup, never a day later

The order it goes in

A slow press pushes soft things through with hard things. Soft alone clogs the screen. Leaves ride through unpressed unless they're sandwiched. Citrus goes last so it rinses the auger and the last cup tastes like the first.

1234
  1. 1
    Hard first
    ginger, carrot, beet, apple
  2. 2
    Leaves sandwiched
    mint, kale, chard between two hard chunks
  3. 3
    Soft after
    cucumber, celery, pineapple, melon
  4. 4
    Citrus last
    peeled lime, lemon, grapefruit — it rinses the auger

Peel all citrus — the pith turns bitter by day two. Ginger is a thumb, not a hand: one inch per 16 ounces, and it doubles in strength overnight. Shake before you pour; cold-pressed separates, and that is how you know it's real.

Eight combos

One 16-ounce cup is about 500 millilitres. Press to 550 and lose the foam. Hard pieces first, citrus last, peeled.

Garden Cooler

5 min

Cucumber, lime, mint, green apple. The house cup.

You need
  • ◆1 green apple, cored and quartered
  • ◆500 g cucumber in chunks, skin on
  • ◆a small handful of mint, sandwiched between cucumber chunks
  • ◆1 lime, peeled, last
Method
  1. 1.Apple first.
  2. 2.Cucumber with the mint tucked between two chunks.
  3. 3.Lime last.
  4. 4.Shake, pour, date the rest.

TipThe apple is there so it isn't water. Clean, cold, barely sweet.

Pink Sunrise

5 min

Grapefruit, orange, ginger. For the people who order a Paloma.

You need
  • ◆1 inch ginger
  • ◆2 large grapefruit, peeled
  • ◆1 orange, peeled, last
Method
  1. 1.Ginger first — it rinses through with everything after.
  2. 2.Grapefruit.
  3. 3.Orange last.

TipSwap the orange for two carrots and it turns amber and earthy.

Carrot Ginger

6 min

Carrot, orange, ginger, lemon. Sweet and warm.

You need
  • ◆500 g carrots, scrubbed, ends off
  • ◆1 inch ginger
  • ◆2 oranges, peeled
  • ◆½ lemon, peeled, last
Method
  1. 1.Carrots and ginger first.
  2. 2.Oranges.
  3. 3.Lemon last.

TipA pinch of turmeric root if you have it, never more than the ginger.

Straight Green

6 min

Cucumber, celery, apple, greens, lemon, ginger. The one the shops charge $13 for.

You need
  • ◆1 inch ginger
  • ◆1 green apple
  • ◆a handful of kale or chard, sandwiched
  • ◆3 ribs celery
  • ◆300 g cucumber
  • ◆½ lemon, peeled, last
Method
  1. 1.Ginger, then apple.
  2. 2.Greens tucked between apple and celery.
  3. 3.Celery, cucumber.
  4. 4.Lemon last.

TipApple keeps it from tasting like lawn.

Melon Lime

4 min

Watermelon, lime, mint. Nearly all juice.

You need
  • ◆700 g watermelon flesh, no rind, seeds are fine
  • ◆a few mint leaves sandwiched in the melon
  • ◆1 lime, peeled, last
Method
  1. 1.Melon with the mint between pieces.
  2. 2.Lime last.
  3. 3.Press it last in the session — it's so wet it washes everything else out.

TipBest the same day. Day two it's a mocktail with sparkling water; day three it's sorbet syrup.

Red Root

7 min

Beet, apple, carrot, lemon, ginger. The color sells it.

You need
  • ◆1 inch ginger
  • ◆1 medium beet, scrubbed, quartered
  • ◆2 carrots
  • ◆2 apples
  • ◆½ lemon, peeled, last
Method
  1. 1.Ginger, beet, carrots.
  2. 2.Apples.
  3. 3.Lemon last.
  4. 4.Rinse the press right away or it stains.

Pineapple Cucumber

5 min

Pineapple, cucumber, mint, lime. Tropical and cold.

You need
  • ◆400 g pineapple, peeled and cored
  • ◆mint, sandwiched
  • ◆300 g cucumber
  • ◆½ lime, peeled, last
Method
  1. 1.Pineapple with the mint between pieces.
  2. 2.Cucumber.
  3. 3.Lime last.

The Pizza-Night Pour

3 min

Cucumber and lime, topped at the table with sparkling water.

You need
  • ◆cucumber and peeled lime, about 2 : 1 by volume, lime on the light side
  • ◆ice
  • ◆sparkling water
  • ◆a crack of house syrup if you want it sweet
Method
  1. 1.Press cucumber then lime.
  2. 2.Pour 4 ounces over ice.
  3. 3.Top with sparkling water.
  4. 4.One 16-ounce bottle makes four.

Questions we get at the table

Is it pasteurized?
No. It's raw, pressed cold, dated, and kept in the fridge. Drink it within three days. If you're pregnant, immune-compromised, or pouring it for a very small child, treat it like any raw juice and ask us what day it was pressed.
Why does it separate?
Because nothing was added to stop it. Shake the cup and it comes back together.
Why is it $8?
The juice bars in town are $9 to $14 for the same pour. Ours comes from across the fence, pressed the morning it's picked, in a plant-based cup. Eight felt like the number a neighbor says yes to without doing math.
What's in it this week?
Whatever the beds gave us extra. The cup is dated and named. If there's nothing on the table, ask at the bell — there's usually a bottle in the house fridge.
Can I bring my own bottle?
Yes. Same price, and we'll fill it to the shoulder with no air so it keeps.

At the table

Order a cup for yard pickup
Cold-Pressed Juice — 16 oz, $8 · shows when there's a bottle in the fridge
Open→
Pizza Night
the 8 oz pour is the $4 add-on
Open→
Field Guide No. 04 — Pizza Dough
what the mocktail is standing next to
Open→

Pressed on the slow press in our kitchen from the beds across the fence, first for the pizza-night mocktails and then for the table. Yields are from our own press, not a chart.— Brandon Mills, Corner Harvest

Grown 40 feet from where you're standing

Everything here comes from the corner lot at 1264 Lincoln Ave.

See what's ready today

Get the next one

A note when there's something new from the corner — new jars, pizza nights, what the birds are up to. No more than a few a month, and never your address to anyone else.