Located just miles from Interstate 840 between Nolensville and College Grove, Morning Glory Orchard has been a Williamson County fixture since 1978. Curt and Christina Wideman originally purchased the ten acres in 2002 as a retirement project. Today, the second generation of the family welcomes guests onto the property from June through October to experience all the fun activities and the bounty of the harvests that take place there.
The Widemans’ daughter Alyson Terrel serves as the current Chief Apple Officer, while her twin sister Andrea Williams is the Event Director. Though the grounds are only open to the public seasonally, running an orchard is very much a year-round endeavor. Many people don’t know that individual peach varietals ripen for only a couple of weeks during the summer, so Morning Glory cultivates multiple varieties to allow for continuous harvesting over the summer as early-season clingstones transition to the sweetest, juicy freestone peaches of late summer.
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In addition to roughly 150 peach trees, Morning Glory also cares for more than 1000 apple trees that produce 14 distinct varieties of fruit, ranging from Galas to heirloom Arkansas Blacks, Granny Smiths, and the cult favorite Honeycrisp apples. As popular as that last variety is, Honeycrisps don’t handle the hotter climate of Middle Tennessee well, so Morning Glory suggests visitors try Cameo apples to discover a new favorite with a similar flavor profile.
January through March are spent pruning hundreds of trees before the first buds appear. Mother Nature dictates the schedule, and late freezes are always a concern. April is for planting new trees to expand the orchards or replace lost stock, while May is when the small team at Morning Glory prepares their farm store for the influx of visitors that arrive during the harvest from June until October. The remaining months after the harvest are kitchen time, when the crew creates artisan jams, jellies, applesauce and apple butter, dried apples and pie fillings for the store.
They also raise bees on the property, not only as pollinators but also to provide raw, unfiltered honey to sell in the farm store in quantities from a half pint to full gallons of amber goodness. Fresh seasonal produce and farm-raised eggs are also sold at the store, along with cider donuts, pies, and breads available in autumn. These baked goods are so popular that you might not find any in stock if you arrive after noon!
Feeling thirsty? Morning Glory has you covered there, too. They press several different varieties of fresh fruit ciders, including Black Cherry, Blackberry, Peach, Muscadine, and of course, Apple. In addition to their non-alcoholic ciders, Morning Glory makes the only tree-to-glass hard cider with 100% of the apples coming from their orchard or another Tennessee farm partner. Their signature “Roots and Wings” hard cider is made in the style of a dry European cider with no added sugar. Light, crisp, and effervescent, it dances on the tongue.
Morning Glory uses their ciders to create popular slushies, frozen drinks that are perfect on a hot summer day. Visitors can choose between non-alcoholic or boozy slushies to enjoy or opt for a flight of ciders.
More than just a place to shop, Morning Glory has a mission to educate guests on what it’s really like to work an orchard from an agricultural perspective. The orchard is open to guests for self-guided tours Wednesdays through Fridays from June until early September. However, keep in mind that the farm is closed to the general public on Saturdays and during its peak fall event season (early September through early November) to accommodate school field trips and private gatherings.
You can still join in the fun during those days that Morning Glory isn’t open to the general public by registering for their special paid events and workshops like mixology classes, fruit and cheese pairings workshops with Grey’s Fine Cheeses, and personalized small group experiences that include guided orchard tours with food and drink pairings and fall family field trips. The staff is always eager to share family stories and teach about farming practices.
It only costs $5 for an armband to tour the orchards when they are open, but another popular event is actually free—their Tuesday night “Singo” parties where guests purchase food and drink and head outdoors to enjoy nature and a little friendly competition. Instead of boring, old Bingo, Event Director Andrea plays song snippets that correspond to title squares on your Singo card. Be the first to get five in a row and win a prize!
Unlike some other agritourism venues, Morning Glory is not a “U-Pick” operation. With such a small orchard, they estimate that they would lose 40% of their crop yield with that sort of self-harvesting model, so it’s better to leave the farm work to the pros to ensure the best quality and then pick your own from the selections in the store. Don’t be surprised if you see lots of apples on the ground when you walk the rows of the orchards. That is nature’s way of culling the weakest apples by dropping them early to concentrate energy into growing larger, healthier fruits.
Considering that Morning Glory Orchard is only open to the public about half of the year, they sure do offer a lot of unique opportunities to enjoy nature and learn about farming. As the old saying goes, it’s like cramming ten gallons into a five-gallon bucket — or in their case, Morning Glory manages to fit a year’s worth of fun into a six-month bushel!
