Fall Trip to Morgan Orchard
When you think of a Fall trip to an orchard, apples probably are the first things to come to mind. However, if you go early enough…say the end of August/first of September, you could score some juicy peaches, blackberries and early apples. It’s the perfect time to go pick your own orchard-fresh fruit! In the beautiful, rolling countryside of Monroe County, West Virginia, you will find Morgan Orchard. This orchard has been in business for 117 years and was originally owned and passed down through, the Morgan family. It is now owned by the Johnson family, who spend their days nurturing and tending the 100 acres of raspberries, peaches, plums, apples and blackberries.
Our family makes at least one trip to this orchard every year. You will find the juiciest, most flavorful peaches for fresh eating or making into delicious jams, marmalades, pies and cobbler. They offer freestone (the pit removes easily for quicker processing) and clingstone, in several varieties and sizes, depending on your needs. We enjoy picking our own, but for those who prefer to have them picked, ready and waiting on them, a nominal fee per pound is added.
It’s hard to just go for one thing when you visit Morgan Orchard. Once you enter the building you see bins of picked apple varieties, peaches, gourds and many other seasonal items, including local honey (which sells out usually the same day it is delivered!). When planning your trip, you should be mindful of the weather and how well local crops are doing as a result of heat, rain or lack thereof. If you are traveling through you can visit their website (here) or call ahead to see what is available before heading out. Since the orchard is tucked away into the countryside, a phone call to make sure they have what you are looking for and their hours of operation that day, would be wise.
Photos from Our Fall Trip to Morgan Orchard:
Morgan Orchard is a wonderful place to spend a warm Summer day or crisp Fall morning. Just being in the middle of the beautiful farm land with the old trees arranged in symmetrical rows and their fruit ripening in the warm sunshine, is rejuvenating to the soul. Before the season passes, be sure to plan your Fall trip to Morgan Orchard!
For more information on things to do and see in West Virginia, visit our website at Information West Virginia.
May 3, 2019 @ 9:46 am
You’ll not be going there again. The orchard was sold to Aviagen (turkey farm), the apple trees reportedly to a company in NC that will make them into applewood smoking chips.
No grafts were allowed to be taken at any point in the negotiations for sale. Currently security cameras are in place all over the 100 acres and several people, reportedly, “escorted out”, no doubt people STILL trying to salvage history in a graft.