Montreal’s northern climate can make it a challenge to grow your own fruits and vegetables. Most tropical fruit does not do very well here, as the trees and plants have difficulty lasting through the harsh winters. However, there are a number of fruits which do thrive in Quebec and most of these growing regions can be accessed via a short drive from the city.
Apple Orchards
Probably the most ubiquitous of the pick-your-own farms to be found near Montreal, apple orchards can be a lot of fun for the entire family. In fact, many orchards are specifically set up to augment their commercial production with visits from local citizens wanting to harvest their own apple crop. It is not unusual to see a school bus full of children pull up to an orchard in the fall in order for the kids to get a chance at the low-hanging fruit. The closest orchard is the Quinn Farm on Ile Perrot. The farm not only offers apple picking, it lets you adopt your own apple tree, which lets you exclusively pick from that tree for a year. It also offers programs to educate children about ecologically conscious farming and gives them the chance to sow and reap their own crops.
| Fruit Picking Seasons | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fruits | June | July | August | Sept. | Oct. | |||||||||||||||
| Apples | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Blueberries | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Blackberries | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Cherries | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Raspberries | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Strawberries | ||||||||||||||||||||
A little farther from the city, to the north are many different orchards situated around the town of Saint-Joseph-du-Lac. There are over 15 different varieties of apples available for sampling in this growing region, along with many different types of apple liqueurs, jams, jellies and baking. The Monteregie area also boasts a similarly wide range of apple orchards and products.
Blueberries and Raspberries
After apples, the next most common self-picked fruits are blueberries and raspberries. A different kind of experience, these berries do not grow on trees but rather in bushes that are usually close to the ground. Long rows of the berries are sown in the farmer’s field, and driving by you will see hundreds of people hunched over with their small wooden baskets, eagerly filling them up and staining their fingers blue and red in the process. The southern areas of Quebec generally have more berry farms, and McMillan Orchards in Franklin Centre is one of the better spots to check out if you are coming from Montreal. It can be found by taking the 138 south from the Mercier bridge. The Orchard also offers more unusual fruits such as pears and plums, and of course apples. If you feel like braving the autumn chill, you can even get pumpkins from McMillan, which are great for making pies, roasting seeds or just carving into scary-looking jack-o-lanterns. The Eastern Townships region of Quebec, about an hour’s drive south-east of Montreal is also known for its berry-picking farms, notably Ferme Wera just outside of Sherbrooke.
When to go
While most of the farms have year round agricultural education programs, typically most of the self-picking tends to come into season starting at the end of July or beginning of August. This period usually extends to the month of October, although it is of course dependent on the temperatures and rainfall that have beset the province that year. The best time to go would be September, when it is still warm enough to enjoy yourself and when you have the best chance of harvesting your fruit when they it is ripe and ready.
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