One of the perks of living in Geneva is that, although it’s the second biggest city in Switzerland, you’re never more than a few minutes away from the most luscious, fertile countryside.
Many local farmers are now happy to sell their super-fresh produce directly to the public and often allow you to pick it yourself, which – in my little nippers’ opinion – trumps supermarket shopping anytime.
For this reason, last Saturday we took advantage of the lovely sunny weather and went apple picking at the Domaine de l’Orcy in Collex-Bossy.
With the delicate outline of the Jura range set against the morning mist; the farm’s horses and cows grazing peacefully and no overflowing trolleys to contend with, we all had a great time (although the farm cockerel, which was being terrorized by Little Miss Cutie might beg to differ).
The regional products you can purchase from local farmers around Geneva include honey, apple & pear juice, beer and cider, meat, cheese, eggs and many more.
Take a look at the official OPAGE website for more detailed info (the site is in English, hurray!), or click here to search by product and location.
This link has a very useful list of farms in the Geneva area that do “vente directe” to the public, you’ll find everything from veggies to fish, meat, rapeseed oil and even tofu !
For the technically advanced, click here to download the free “Geneva Terroir” app with all the info about farm products, wineries, country walks and farm guest-houses in the region.
If you live in Canton Vaud, take a look at the Marché Paysan and Bio Vaud websites for a list of farms that sell directly to the public.
We only have one word of warning: the little ones might get carried away, so for instance we came home with almost 9kg of Gala apples !
But if it’s true what they say, they’ll keep many a doctors away…
8 comments
Hi, thank you so much for this family fun blog on apple picking at the Domaine de l’Orcy in Collex-Bossy. I took my two young girls their last week, they loved it, apples were luscious and set in such a beautiful area! Highly recommend!
Hi Claire, thank you so much for your comment – so glad your girls enjoyed it, we had a fab time too ! …and I have to say our apples are nearly all gone now, my little muffins seem to love the idea of eating what they picked themselves ! Thank you again for reading and posting such a lovely comment. Have a fab day ! Michela
Hi Claire, thank you very much for your post. Could you please give exact address of the orchard or direction from Nations? Would love to go there with kids 🙂
Dear Nalinda, here’s the address DOMAINE DE L’ORCY
Chemin de L’Orcy 20
1239 Collex-Bossy
and here’s the link with the phone number, hope it helps: http://www.les-fruits.ch/1196/5/2450543/collex_bossy/domaine_de_l_orcy/detail.htm
Have a great time picking fruit with your little one ! Kindest regards, Michela
Hi Michela,
Thank you very much for the info !
Hope to go there soon.
Best regards, Nalinda
Here’s another list of farms in and around Nyon http://www.nyon-tourisme.ch/multimedia/docs/2009/06/28_1f.pdf
To pick apples and pears you can go to a farm in Meinier, route de Compois 23. Opening hours: Mon to Sat 9am-6.30pm. From the 29th of October Mon to Sat 11am-5pm. Enjoy !
We just got back from Domaine de l’Orcy. Our visit was ruined when the farmer told me I “lacked intelligence” for parking in front of the “brocante” (which I thought was a barn). There were no signs to say where to park and the grassy areas were all full. I parked next to another car and didn’t realise it was not ok to park there. First of all the farmer told me I lacked intelligence when he could simply have asked me politely to move the car. Then the owner of the brocante came out and yelled at me and even though I apologised profusely and was trying to get in the car to move it he wouldn’t let it drop and said he’d called the police!! Both horrible men and I will never go back.