Nebraska City Area Apple Orchards

[ChadJK]

A list of the orchards in the vicinity of Nebraska City, Nebraska:

Apple House Market at Arbor Day Farm
2611 Arbor Ave
Nebraska City, NE 68410
(402) 873-8733
https://www.arbordayfarm.org/experiences/shopping

Kimmel Orchard
5995 G Rd
Nebraska City, NE 68410
(402) 873-5293
https://www.kimmelorchard.org/

Union Orchard
2405 US Highway 75
Union, NE 68455
(402) 263-4845
https://www.unionorchard.com/

Let me know if any need added.

[ChadJK]

I will say that you need to be a little careful buying anything other than perhaps fresh apples from these places. Many of them sell various jarred goods (jams, jellies, apple butter, salso, pickles, etc.) and if you read the label it states, "Made especially for XYZ Orchard." Note their use of the word "for" instead of the word "by." Most are manufactured out of state by a third party that will slap whatever label on them the retailer wants. You can google the UPC number to discover this.

I suppose many people don't care, but when I'm wandering the market at an orchard and looking at jarred goods with their name on it I sort of assume they made them. That is, I assume I am buying a Nebraska product made in Nebraska and that's what I want to do as that is my mindset when wandering around orchard markets in autumn in rural Nebraska. Instead, I might as well be shopping at Hy-Vee.

The most egregious was probably like 7 or 8 years ago when I stopped in at Union Orchard shortly after its third (?) set of owners took over. They had all the same jarred stuff made by a third party that the other orchards did. However, they took it a step further and had put Union Orchard stickers over the Louisburg Cider label. The same Louisburg Cider you can buy at any local grocery store. One of the stickers was peeling off and you could plainly see the Louisburg label underneath. They had also stopped making and freezing their own pies and were just selling mass-market frozen pies with a Union Orchard label on them (you could tell from the ingredients). Perhaps things have changed, but I was so turned off I haven't been back there in several years.

[nebugeater]

I will say that you need to be a little careful buying anything other than perhaps fresh apples from these places. Many of them sell various jarred goods (jams, jellies, apple butter, salso, pickles, etc.) and if you read the label it states, "Made especially for XYZ Orchard." Note their use of the word "for" instead of the word "by." Most are manufactured out of state by a third party that will slap whatever label on them the retailer wants. You can google the UPC number to discover this.

I suppose many people don't care, but when I'm wandering the market at an orchard and looking at jarred goods with their name on it I sort of assume they made them. That is, I assume I am buying a Nebraska product made in Nebraska and that's what I want to do as that is my mindset when wandering around orchard markets in autumn in rural Nebraska. Instead, I might as well be shopping at Hy-Vee.

The most egregious was probably like 7 or 8 years ago when I stopped in at Union Orchard shortly after it's third (?) set of owners took over. They had all the same jarred stuff made by a third party that the other orchards did. However, they took it a step further and had put Union Orchard stickers over the Louisburg Cider label. The same Louisburg Cider you can buy at any local grocery store. One of the stickers was peeling off and you could plainly see the Louisburg label underneath. They had also stopped making and freezing their own pies and were just selling mass-market frozen pies with a Union Orchard label on them (you could tell from the ingredients). Perhaps things have changed, but I was so turned off I haven't been back there in several years.

Not to take the thread down a rabbit hole, but it does not end there. Go to a farmers market and some, not all, are selling the same produce that you get at a grocery store and they get from the same suppliers. Especially early in the season for locally grown. I have actually seen items at a farmers market that are hinted to be local but not explicitly stated, yet they still have the stickers on some of the individual items you would see in a typical grocery store.

[skinzfan23]

Another story, although different. We went to the Kimmel Orchard for the Applejack festival about 8 years ago. We had bought some baked goods and were eating them and one of my kids wanted something to drink. I went over and grabbed a small (20 oz) bottle of apple cider and my son came running up to me to tell me something so I got sidetracked. Due to the layout at the time, you didn’t pass right buy the checkouts and I completely forgot to pay. A few min later as we are all sitting at a table inside the store some old man came up and grabbed me by the arm and started yelling at me. He told me that he was one of the owners and saw me grab the bottle without paying and that he was going to call the cops.

I did in fact forget to pay, but a simple, “hey you forgot to pay for that” would have done. I should have called the cops on him for touching me. And the fact he was scolding me loudly in the store was uncalled for.

I wrote them a nice long message the next day and they apologized and sad that he was retiring soon. Needless to say, never been back and don’t plan to.

[djc311]

Another story, although different. We went to the Kimmel Orchard for the Applejack festival about 8 years ago. We had bought some baked goods and were eating them and one of my kids wanted something to drink. I went over and grabbed a small (20 oz) bottle of apple cider and my son came running up to me to tell me something so I got sidetracked. Due to the layout at the time, you didn’t pass right buy the checkouts and I completely forgot to pay. A few min later as we are all sitting at a table inside the store some old man came up and grabbed me by the arm and started yelling at me. He told me that he was one of the owners and saw me grab the bottle without paying and that he was going to call the cops.

I did in fact forget to pay, but a simple, “hey you forgot to pay for that” would have done. I should have called the cops on him for touching me. And the fact he was scolding me loudly in the store was uncalled for.

I wrote them a nice long message the next day and they apologized and sad that he was retiring soon. Needless to say, never been back and don’t plan to.

We went to Kimmel for the first time last year - wasn't impressed and felt like all the hype and talk about the AppleJack festival was not what we were expecting. Bought some cider beers, they were OK. We also ate lunch there and wasn't impressed.

Maybe our expectations were too high, but I don't get the interest. Since we have season passes to Vala's I'd rather stay closer to home and use that as often as possible.

[nativeomahan]

I will say that you need to be a little careful buying anything other than perhaps fresh apples from these places. Many of them sell various jarred goods (jams, jellies, apple butter, salso, pickles, etc.) and if you read the label it states, "Made especially for XYZ Orchard." Note their use of the word "for" instead of the word "by." Most are manufactured out of state by a third party that will slap whatever label on them the retailer wants. You can google the UPC number to discover this.

I suppose many people don't care, but when I'm wandering the market at an orchard and looking at jarred goods with their name on it I sort of assume they made them. That is, I assume I am buying a Nebraska product made in Nebraska and that's what I want to do as that is my mindset when wandering around orchard markets in autumn in rural Nebraska. Instead, I might as well be shopping at Hy-Vee.

The most egregious was probably like 7 or 8 years ago when I stopped in at Union Orchard shortly after its third (?) set of owners took over. They had all the same jarred stuff made by a third party that the other orchards did. However, they took it a step further and had put Union Orchard stickers over the Louisburg Cider label. The same Louisburg Cider you can buy at any local grocery store. One of the stickers was peeling off and you could plainly see the Louisburg label underneath. They had also stopped making and freezing their own pies and were just selling mass-market frozen pies with a Union Orchard label on them (you could tell from the ingredients). Perhaps things have changed, but I was so turned off I haven't been back there in several years.

True, true and true.
NONE of the jarred product is from Nebraska. That doesn’t make it inferior (maybe the opposite) but lots of people don’t take the time to read the labels.
We stopped last week at the Morton orchard and they had precisely Zero bags of apples out for display or purchase. Their back of the house apple sorting and processing equipment you can see was being modestly utilized. Judging from the tremendous volume of fallen apples left under the trees, and lots more still in the trees, I will surmise that they had a bumper crop this year.
We also were very surprised to see that Morton had completely remodeled since last year, and their barbeque restaurant had gone pretty much upscale from what it was like a few years back. And the “gift shop” room had been converted to a bar and lounge area. The former space where they sold the bags and bushels of apples was now a gift shop and retail area of sorts, where they sell Village Pie-maker pies (manufactured in LaVista) as well as the out of state jars of jams, jellies, barbeque sauce, salsas, etc. I guess I’m old fashioned but I miss the good old days where things were more rustic.
Kimmel Orchards is the Big Guy in town, and they clearly are a year round business, complete with a fancy big outdoor children’s play area, a large event building, as well as an indoor bar/restaurant and wine tasting area.
The pics are from Kimmel’s. It turned out to be a bittersweet visit, as each year for more than a decade we have taken our dogs along with us to the orchards, then picnicked with them in one of the beautiful nearby parks. This was the last time our old girl Daisy made the trek, as she passed yesterday.

[djc311]

The pics are from Kimmel’s. It turned out to be a bittersweet visit, as each year for more than a decade we have taken our dogs along with us to the orchards, then picnicked with them in one of the beautiful nearby parks. This was the last time our old girl Daisy made the trek, as she passed yesterday.

Sorry to hear about your pet loss - we have 5 pugs and they are definitely a part of our family (sometimes we enjoy their company more than our kids).

[nativeomahan]

Thank you. It’s been a tough few days. For the first time in over 30 years we don’t have a dog scurrying around the house. Too quiet.