There are so many good reasons to pick your own: ultra-fresh produce, unrivalled flavours, and a moment of rejuvenation in the heart of nature! If you arrive at the farm with your mind full of energy, you’ll leave soothed and certainly filled with gratitude for the work of the producers and the generosity of nature.
While pick-your-own has its advantages for growers, such as the absence of intermediaries, it also has its drawbacks, which can lead some farmers to abandon or refuse the activity. To guarantee the long-term future of this practice, it is essential that pick-your-own farmers adopt good practices. I therefore consulted Philippe Thompson of Courges & cie, Michel Merleau of Verger Merleau, and Maryse Harnois, an agronomist specializing in horticulture, to identify the best practices that visitors should adopt.
Michel Merleau
Propriétaire du Verger Merleau
Before pick-your-own
Before you go, check pick-your-own availability on social networks or on the farm’s answering machine. Farms may close temporarily for weather reasons or to allow fruits and vegetables to ripen again.
Make sure you know which payment methods are accepted, or bring several means of payment with you. Cash is your best bet! Credit or debit cards may not be accepted.
Would you like to take your dog with you? Check whether pets are allowed. For sanitaryreasons, many farms don’t allow them.
U-pick is a great activity to do with children, so bring them along! Note, however, that some farms impose an adult/child ratio to ensure a quality experience for all visitors. For example, 1 adult may be required for every 2 children under 12.
If there’s a particular variety of apple you’d like to pick, check with the orchard to find out which week is best. For example, the Cortland apple is not available at the start of the season. You could also seize the opportunity to discover new varieties!
Finally, considering that a day in nature can come with bright sunshine or cooler weather, rocky or even muddy ground, here’s a checklist for your bag and car to help you get the best pick-your-own experience:
• Water bottle
• Snack
• Sunscreen
• Hat
• Mosquito repellent
• Disinfectant liquid
• Appropriate footwear (for muddy, rocky or grassy terrain)
• Appropriate bags, baskets, buckets or containers for your crops
• Comfortable clothing for bending and stretching
• Knee pads or gardening mats (especially for strawberry picking)
• Cooler to keep your harvest fresh on the way home.
U-pick
Have you arrived at the farm? Keep in mind that the beauty you see is the fruit of many years’ work! For example, before you can harvest apples from an apple tree, it can take 7 to 8 years of care. Farms establish procedures and regulations to preserve this fragile nature and ensure a positive experience for all. According to the growers I spoke with, respect is essential: respect the staff, other visitors, the site and nature. If you have any questions about the rules, don’t hesitate to ask the staff.
Best practices in a nutshell:
• Respect authorized areas. Some areas may be closed for various reasons. Even if fruit looks ripe in a closed area, its appearance is no guarantee of ripeness: an apple may be red, but its external color does not necessarily reflect its ripeness.
• Pick gently. When fruits and vegetables are ripe, they are generally easy to pick. Avoid pulling on branches, shaking trees or plants and climbing trees. They will take a long time to recover from injuries, which could affect future harvests.
• Check before you pick. Does the fruit meet your expectations? It would be a shame to see fruit thrown to the ground because, in the end, you don’t find it to your liking or not ripe enough.
• Handle your harvest with care. Put them down rather than dropping or throwing them.
• You can do a taste test in the field, but be honest and realistic. Give your child a small apple, for example, and invite him or her to finish it, rather than throwing it on the ground and biting into another.
• Dispose of your garbage. You can bring your own snacks and beverages, but dispose of your waste, including compostable waste, in the designated areas.
• Keep an eye on your children.
• Express your gratitude. Tell the staff what you liked!
Some pick-your-own harvests available in the Outaouais region between September and October:
| Harvest | Interesting facts | Places |
| Apples | An apple doesn’t need to be turned to be harvested. Simply lift it in the opposite direction to its natural orientation. It willcome off easily. | Verger et cidrerie Merleau (Bouchette) Verger Croque-Pomme (Lochaber-Partie-Ouest) Verger Bonsecours (Montebello) |
| Tomatoes | Tomatoes are ripe when they can be easily removed from the plant with a slight twisting motion. | Courges et cie (Gatineau) |
| Ground cherries | They are ripe when they have fallen to the ground, detached from the plant, with a dry shell. | Courges et cie (Gatineau) |
| Squash | The best time to harvest them is in September, since they are more sensitive to cold than pumpkins. Leave them on your counter for a month or two, and they’ll develop even more flavor. | Courges et cie (Gatineau) Verger Croque-Pomme (Lochaber-Partie-Ouest) |
| Pumpkins | Like squash, pumpkins are fragile, so handle them with great care. This will prevent bruising and extend their shelf life by several months, until the following spring. | Courges et cie (Gatineau) Potager Eardley (Gatineau) Verger Croque-Pomme (Lochaber-Partie-Ouest) |
After U-pick
Have you harvested your ripe fruit? Whether we’re talking about berries or apples, put them in the fridge as soon as possible. You can even use a cooler to transport your berries home by car. This will prevent the growth of surface moulds. For squash and pumpkins, make sure they don’t get banged up when transported by car, and prefer your counter for storage if you don’t have a low-humidity room around 12°C. The garage is often too humid.
Enjoy!