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| A superb pear, as soon harvested, is passing from a grandson's hand to his grandmother's. |
Hélène:
Fruit picking - like apples, strawberries, raspberries... - just as we know it today, is not a new trend. But it developped far behond harvesting produce. Agrotourism offers many recreational activities in rural areas, magnifying our experience, and our family's.
There are many places everywhere in Quebec that offer such an experience.
In October, we made a trip to a marvelous village south-west of mount Yamaska, St-Paul d'Abbotsford (look at the tourism section on this municipality's site). In the orchard Verger du Relais, we harvested pears and apples to make jams and preserves. Louise wanted to bring back a bushel of 'Beauté Flamande' pears mainly to eat them fresh. To her and her family's delight, we can keep them whole for many weeks in the refrigerator's produce drawer. In fact, one month after this harvest, she still has a good stock of them. She deposits a handful in a basket placed on the counter and let them rippen.
Before departing from the orchard, we spread a blanket over a grass patch bordering the fruit trees and savoured our picnic.
Then, we headed for the King of the Strawberry, le Roi de la Fraise, a farm offering diverse produce according to the season, from strawberries, to apples, to squashes, even preserves and homemade pies. We were interested to visit their miniature farm (for free!), home of some chickens, rabbits, ducks, poneys, goats, llamas and a pig named Régis. Furthermore, there was a picnic area and a big playground for the kids. It was Louise's second visit this year, as she brought her class the week before. Many farms involved in agrotourism open their doors to school groups.
In this day-trip, we had only time to skim over the proverbial cornucopia. Agrotourism offers us so many different activities: farm stays, tractor rides, sports, patrimonial tours, country-style tables where we can taste farm produce, etc. Many farms in our countryside (elsewhere in the world, too) open their door to welcome us, a nation of food lovers avid to reconnect with the source of our sustenance!
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| Many ways to cook pears! |
In October, we made a trip to a marvelous village south-west of mount Yamaska, St-Paul d'Abbotsford (look at the tourism section on this municipality's site). In the orchard Verger du Relais, we harvested pears and apples to make jams and preserves. Louise wanted to bring back a bushel of 'Beauté Flamande' pears mainly to eat them fresh. To her and her family's delight, we can keep them whole for many weeks in the refrigerator's produce drawer. In fact, one month after this harvest, she still has a good stock of them. She deposits a handful in a basket placed on the counter and let them rippen.
Before departing from the orchard, we spread a blanket over a grass patch bordering the fruit trees and savoured our picnic.
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| Régis. |
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| A Tic Tac Toe game at le Roi de la Fraise |
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| A pumpkin field - we found the perfect one for Halloween! |
