Although September has arrived it’s still summer, so yesterday Brett and I decided to take a drive through the countryside to visit Morning Glory Orchard and buy some of their peaches.
Morning Glory Orchard is a family-owned farm in Nolensville, located about 22 miles south of Nashville, and a short distance from the cities of Brentwood, Franklin, and Murfreesboro. The orchard grows peaches and several varieties of apples, operates a large farm store and a vegetable stand, and also runs an apiary. They bottle their own hard cider and are getting started with a winery. Self-guided tours of the orchards are available until August 31 so we just missed getting to do that. The vegetable stand was also not operating yesterday but it may be not be open on Thursdays. The orchard does not offer U-pick; all produce must be purchased in the farm store.
The farm store had loads of interesting and delicious things for sale. Big tubs of chrysanthemums sat outside getting ready to bloom.
We wandered around when we first arrive to checked all there was to see, and spotted a pumpkin patch, an animal petting area, and an area set aside for private events. It seemed quite a lot goes on there, mainly on Saturdays, but during our visit on a Thursday afternoon only the farm shop was open. After checking things out, Brett (with Kaipo) enjoyed a long conversation outside with the orchard owner while I perused the farm store. He learned they do cider pressings in the fall and sell apple cider doughnuts, but only on Saturdays – we would have loved to have picked up some of those!
The drive through the countryside to the orchard and back home was absolutely lovely, full of rolling hills, thick woods, and fields (with either hay or horses). We came across several historical markers as we drove through the area surrounding Arrington on our way to the orchard and back, learning about Wheeler’s Raid around Rosecrans and Ozburn Hollow. Apparently there are nine markers just in the Arrington area, from both the Revolutionary and Civil War periods. As we drove it was not hard to imagine Civil War troops moving in the area or cavalry thundering through on their horses or soldiers setting up campsites in the open spaces.
We did indulge ourselves a bit at the farm store and bought some of their site-made peach and apple products as well as three pounds of peaches. Although we’re not fond of crowds, we think a trip back on a fall weekend might just be worthwhile, if only together some of those doughnuts!
The Occasional Nomads 