It’s Fall, and Goley’s Orchard has your Apples!

Who doesn’t look forward to Fall’s cooler temperatures, beautiful colored leaves, and crispy-delicious apples! So many families have a seasonal tradition of going to an apple orchard, making applesauce or apple pies at home, or enjoying glasses of chilled or warmed & spiced apple cider. We love to look at our fall mums and pumpkins, but we can’t get enough delicious apples! Luckily here in Madison, Indiana, we’ve had the family-owned Goley’s Orchard growing top quality fruit for close to 100 years.

Back in 1926, Alfred Goley, Sr. gave “$1.75 down and a promise to pay” on a historic property on Clifty Drive just west of Clifty Falls State Park‘s north entrance. The home on this land was rented, and although they couldn’t move right in, they started planting the orchard and selling potatoes, eggs and butter. Fast forward 98 years, and you’ll find the Goley family selling 34 varieties of apples, 9 varieties of peaches, nectarines, and four varieties of pears at Alfred Sr’s early 1800s brick home. A portrait of his son, Alfred Goley, Jr, who many remember, hangs in the sales room, and his grandson Paul runs the orchard today. Paul’s son John oversees cider production and grandsons are also involved. Five generations of hardworking Goley’s have literally kept us supplied with the fruits of their labor.

I’m an annual customer at Goley’s Orchard. Although apples are “the main thing” for me, if spring weather has been kind to the peach blossoms, I’m loving peaches, too. When my Mom was still living, she absolutely loved the Goley peaches I’d can for her. And when it’s pear season, Goley’s Bosc pears make the most wonderful desserts.

With SO many apple choices, selecting varieties could be tricky. But Cindy Goley, Paul’s wife and the Orchard salesperson, is your go-to on apple varieties. Goley’s apple season is a progression of varieties beginning in late August with Gala and Honeycrisp and concluding with Granny Smith in early November. So when you’re in the mood for apples, what you purchase depends on the day you visit the Orchard! By the end of the season, you may have made applesauce twice but used a different apple variety each time. Same with pies. Same with eating apples! On that note, I asked Cindy what was her personal favorite eating apple among all their apples. “Hands down, the Cameo.” (Cameo comes from Red Delicious parents, so it has pear overtones, but it is brighter in flavor and a bit lemony. They come in later in October.) She also weighed in on the Orchard’s most popular apple over all, Golden Delicious (sweet and mild, with buttery overtones), followed by Honeycrisp (not overly sweet, with flavors of honey and pear).

This week I went to the Orchard for three specific apple project needs – (1) fresh apple pies and apple pie filling for canning, (2) baked apples, and (3) fried apples. I came home with three bags of different apples that were just picked and perfect for my projects. For the pies/pie filling, Cindy recommended Jonathans. “I’m always going back to Jonathans – they’re good for so many things!” For the baked apples, we decided on a “variety pack” experiment of three good bakers – McIntosh, Zestar and Cortland. For my Mom’s Fried Apples, a family favorite, we went with Golden Delicious, Ken’s number one favorite eating apple – and my apple of choice for my slow cooker apple butter! People always ask for Mom’s Fried Apples recipe, so here you go. She made it with bacon fat, as do I, but you can certainly use butter instead. You’ll just sacrifice a little of the flavor. #baconfatrules

When we had Main Street Bed & Breakfast long ago, one of the best liked fall breakfast treats was our baked apple stuffed with our homemade granola and basted with apple cider. Yum. But I picked up an awesome cookbook, The Apple Lover’s Cookbook by Amy Traverso, in Goley’s gift shop (Old Apple House) and decided to give its “Cider-Baked Apple” recipe a try. The author recommends Pink Lady or Jazz apples, but I was confident Cindy’s “variety pack” suggestions would work out perfectly. She was not wrong!

A key ingredient in both baked apple recipes is the full-bodied fresh apple cider from Goley’s. Beginning after the first picking, they use at least 6-8 varieties of apple seconds – sometimes 10-12 varieties – to get that wonderful blended flavor. Prior to purchasing their small cider press in the 1980s, their cider was hand-pressed in a barrel. Oh my gosh… thank goodness there’s a machine now for this work since they make about 80 gallons a week from mid-September on until all the apples are gone!

Here are the apple varieties grown in Goley’s Orchard and used in combination in their cider: Arkansas Black, Lodi, Lodi Transparent, Royal Gala, Galaxy Gala, Grand Gala, Buckeye Gala, Magnolia Gold, Johnnys, Red Jonathans, Old Fashioned Jonathans, Ruby Jonathans, Zestar, Ginger Gold, McIntosh, Jonagold, Cortland, Empire, Macoun, Red Delicious, Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious, Grimes Golden, Rome. Mutsu (Crispin), Stayment Winesap, Red Fuji, York Imperial, Northern Spy, Granny Smith, Gold Rush, Pink Lady, Cameo, and Turley Winesap.

Whether you’re cooking or just munching, trust me, you’ll find an apple – or several – to love at Goley’s Orchard. And if you’re already thinking about what to get teachers, friends and family for the holidays, don’t forget about their Old Apple House gift shop! You won’t find an orchard like Goley’s at every turn.