Isom's Orchard — Local services in Athens

The orchard sits there in Athens, Alabama, as if it had always been—red earth and green rows rising up into the long light of summer, the kind of place where time does not pass so much as pool and settle like warm honey in the shade of a peach tree. At Isom’s, you walk down the vine-wrapped aisles and the grapes fall heavy into your palms, sun-warmed and almost bursting, and you know they are not simply grapes but the patient work of a season, of soil and sweat and the steady patience of people who still know how to coax sweetness from the land.

And the flowers, too—rows of them like a hymn without words, a riot of color set against the Alabama sky. You bend to cut your own and it feels as though you are gathering pieces of the day, petals and stems stitched together into memory. The orchard is generous like that: it lets you take part in the growing, it lets you walk away with what the earth itself has lifted up.

There is, too, the unexpected grace of a chocolate donut—dense, rich, a sweetness that seems to belong more to Sunday morning than to the field, and yet here it is, waiting for you after the baskets are full. And just beside it, the fire of hot peppers, a row of them fierce and red and green, daring you to carry home not just comfort but challenge, the heat of late summer stored in their skins.

To wander Isom’s is to understand that a place can be both gentle and wild, both kind and insistent. It offers fruit and flower, sweetness and flame, and it does so without pretense, only the quiet insistence of the land itself saying: here,...

The reason for this one star is the poor customer service and experience! I came from Birmingham for this location and was unaware that they only took cash or check. The young lady was very nice to put my picks to the side until I return with cash. I returned with cash and all items were gone. All 73 dollars worth. And there were slim pickings remaining and none of a couple items I was looking forward to having. The other lady was asked if she gave away but her simple yet sarcastic response was “Sorry.” Then proceeded to do other things. No informative response or to ask if this was my first visit to this establishment to let me know they allow our customers to pick strawberries and let’s see if we have some other options for you! Given I had traveled back to patronize this location!! I am disappointed that all my pickings were gone!!! The lack of care to keep customers coming is enough to tell me about this establishment!! I’m disappointed and will not be back to visit based off of first...

Stopped here on a whim last week and grabbed a basket of peaches and two jars of jams. A few days later my husband messages me and tells me the jam we just bought is full of mold! When I return home I open the other and it too has mold! So I message them on Facebook to let them know and whomever I spoke with was kind enough and said just come back and we'll give you a refund. We'll that's a bit annoying as it's a 30 minute drive from my home but ok. I get there and it's packed with people; the checkout lanes are chaotic and disorganized. I wait 15 minutes in line and get to a cashier who looks confused but the lady next to her switches registers with her and proceeds to be very rude and dismissive. After returning my money quickly takes the next customer like I'm not even there! I see customer service is dead, I...