Karnes Orchard Cider is Not Pasteurized, But the Family Isn’t Pressed About It

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HILLSBORO, Ohio — If you have been looking for a jug of cider that still tastes like the press, Karnes Orchard is the stop on the east side of Highland County. It is not a grocery-store aisle. The family presses the apples it grows, does not pasteurize the cider, and tells you to drink it or freeze it within a week.

The market sits at 8200 Worley Mill Road. From Hillsboro, take U.S. 50 east about 9 miles, turn north on Worley Mill, and go about 2 miles. The orchard’s site puts the first commercial planting in March 1876, about 50 trees and 15 apple varieties, set out by Joseph Karnes Jr. The land under it goes back further than that. Henry Karnes bought the original 10 acres in 1810.

Joseph died in 1916 and left the ground to his sons. George Karnes Sr. kept the orchard going. Three of his sons, Paul, George Jr., and William, stayed with it. George Jr., known as Bill, is the one who put the Karnes Orchard name on a market. That stand opened on U.S. 50 in 1954 and stayed there until 1993. Bill’s displays took ribbons at the Ohio State Fair, including a best 40-tray display in 1950 and another fruit award in 1957. The family history page is written by Steve Karnes, Bill’s grandson.

Then it stopped. The market closed in 1993, and the trees went quiet for about 20 years. Steve’s parents, Charles and Kay Karnes, had bought the Worley Mill site from George Jr. in 1972. The orchard did not come back until March 2012, when the family started planting again: 2,200 trees that year, more than 30 apple varieties, including some of the 1876 kinds, then about 2,000 more trees in 2013, peaches and tart cherries among them. A one-day sneak peek in September 2013 was the first selling day in 20 years. The grand opening was the fall of 2014. The stand is back on the original road, not out on the highway.

The selling season runs about mid-July through mid-November. Hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Sundays are closed. There is no gate fee. You pay for what you carry out, and u-pick is open whenever the market is. The FAQ lists first-grade apples at about $1.50 a pound and seconds at about 75 cents. U-pick is priced like the firsts. Those are the orchard’s own figures, and they say the price gets better if you buy more. Cash, credit, debit, and checks are all taken.

What is in the market depends on the week. The home page has been listing EverCrisp, Ludacrisp, Querina, Pippin, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Cameo, and Braeburn, with Honeycrisp in seconds only. Querina is their cross of Golden Delicious, Jonathan, and Rome. Fry pies, whole pies, cider slushies, apple butter, peach jam, local honey, maple syrup, sourdough, and G’s baked goods have all been on the board, along with pumpkins, gourds, and mums later in the fall. Check the orchard’s Facebook before you promise a kid a particular apple. A variety can be picked out by the time you get there.

The cider is the part worth the drive from Chillicothe or Greenfield. Karnes says it is pressed nearly every week in season, only from apples grown on the place, and it is not processed after the press. Keep it cold. A week is the window they give you. If you want a jug that can sit in a pantry until Christmas, this is not that cider.

Pets stay out of the market and the working rows, except for a service animal. There is a shaded grassy spot for a leashed dog. Apples keep best between 33 and 50 degrees. If they start to wrinkle, the orchard says a light spritz of water helps.

Next in Highland County: Highland County dog tags are sold at the auditor, and the price on the website moved after January

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