Les Vergers Apple Orchards, Mont-St. Hilaire

[EagerBeaver]

This thread falls under the the heading of "things to do when in Montreal", although there does not seem to be such a forum on the board.

It is now apple picking season so I ventured out to Les Vergers Apple Orchard. It's actually about a 45 minutes drive east of Montreal via the 720, and sits at the base of Mont-St. Hilaire. I ended up buying about 10 pounds of Honeycrisp apples for $16. No problem bringing them back into the USA, and I called customs to make sure of it. Honyecrisp apples are an HDH apple usually priced at between $3-$4 per pound in supermarkets, so this is quite a deal. Les Vergers also has available for picking LDL apples, such as McIntosh and Cortland. The Honeycrisp is an expensive and sensitive HDH apple, so they don't let customers pick them. You have to buy them in big baskets. The Cortlands and McIntoshes can be picked.

The Honeycrisps I bought are bit smaller and tarter in taste than the ones I purchase in my local supermarkets, but they are very good and fresh tasting.

The orchard has a restaurant with a somewhat limited breakfast menu primarily consisting of crepes served with your choice of about 15 fillings. I got mine with cider-cured ham, apples, bananas and topped with maple syrup. There is also a country store at which you can buy cider and other products.

I recommend getting some apples at this orchard, and now is the time to do it.

 

[Maria Divina]

Hello EB,

I never tasted honeycrisp apples, and I am borned in a country of apples... :nod:
Generally speaking, I go to vergers near the end of the 640. I am a nice cooker (proclaming myself an hedonist) and I like to know the little things who are making the difference on a table. I read the infos on this new kind of apple, good to eat and to cook, and because this is a late ready apple, I feel that could be more sweet probably. Have to try it!

Thanks for the infos!

:thumb:

Note: funny how you classed this apple HDH.... and other apples as LDL

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

It's actually about a 45 minutes drive east of Montreal via the 720

That would be the 20 rather than the 720. The latter is the Ville Marie which doesn't get off the island of Montreal. Mont. St. Hilaire is also the best hiking within easy reach of the city.

 

[EagerBeaver]

That would be the 20 rather than the 720. The latter is the Ville Marie which doesn't get off the island of Montreal. Mont. St. Hilaire is also the best hiking within easy reach of the city.

Yes, I think 720 east feeds into 20 but it is mostly the 20 after that. When you get to the Richilieu River you head south towards Mont. St. Hilaire.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Hello EB, I never tasted honeycrisp apples, and I am borned in a country of apples...

funny how you classed this apple HDH.... and other apples as LDL

The Honeycrisps I bought at Les Vergers are a bit smaller and more tart in taste than the ones I have bought at USA supermarkets, but they are absolutely delicious. They are HDH apples meaning high priced hottie apple as opposed to LDL or lower priced like Cortland and McIntosh. I would only use them for eating raw, I think Honeycrisps are too good for pie or applesauce.

In my opinion the Honeycrisp apple is far better tasting than Cortland or McIntosh and that is one of the reasons they are much more expensive, ususally $3-$4 per pound.

 

[Max15411]

If these apples taste better than Cortlands, I have to get some to try. When Cortland are in season, like now, I go through 6-8 apples a day. They guys at work think I have trees in my backyard.

 

[Maria Divina]

I would only use them for eating raw, I think Honeycrisps are too good for pie or applesauce.

I was thinking of strudels.

They are recommanded/good to cook. So, that's always nice when you are receiving to have something special to offer on your table.

:smile:

 

[Doc Holliday]

Good thread. It shows that there is more to Mtl than just the sex business & hockey. Before i discovered escorts back at the end of 1999, i had been travelling to Mtl annually for 11 years. Okay, the Expos & stripclubs were a big part of it, but still.

A visit to L'Oratoire St-Joseph was mesmerizing. I never knew there was such architecturial beauty in Montreal. Wow!

My visit to the Basilique Notre-Dame in Old Mtl nearly made a born-again Christian out of me. Such magnificient beauty!

Brunching up north in the Laurentians many years ago was fantastic & i'll have to go back next summer!

I'll have to go check-out the Biodome one of these days. Same thing with Mont-Royal & Schwartz.

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

Yes, I think 720 east feeds into 20 but it is mostly the 20 after that. When you get to the Richilieu River you head south towards Mont. St. Hilaire.

Nope. The 720 runs off the 20 from the Turcot Interchange through the East End. From the Turcot, the 20 runs across the Champlain Bridge, then north along the St. Lawrence before turning East and the Richelieu. Beloeil is just before the Richelieu, Mont. St. Hilaire just after. It's some of the best cycling in Monteregie.

 

[EagerBeaver]

They are recommanded/good to cook. So, that's always nice when you are receiving to have something special to offer on your table.:smile:

Maria, see the attached, the Honeycrisp is considered a delicacy as an eating apple:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeycrisp

 

[Maria Divina]

I took my informations on the official website of "Fédération des producteurs de pommes du Québec".

I am sorry, that site is only in French, normal, that's a québécois site, but you will be probably able to understand, that's a basic and short description of this variety.. If not, tell me, I will traduce for you.

:smile:

http://www.lapommeduquebec.ca/pages/PQQ/Honeycrisp.aspx

ps: There are many wonderful recipies on the site, like this one:

http://www.lapommeduquebec.ca/pages/PQQ/pastillapomme.aspx

:smile:

 

[EagerBeaver]

Yes, that description is basically correct. The Honeycrisp is a very tasty apple and I am sure you can make great things like pie and strudel and apple sauce, but I just eat them raw. I bought 10 pounds of them for $16 and I have been eating about 4 a day since Saturday.

 

[Maria Divina]

They say: "An apple a day, keeps the doctor away!"

I think you will be pretty good to skip the doctor for a loooong time!

:lol:

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

I was on my way home last night and, exiting the Metro, I saw a sign by the fruiterie "Honey Crisps," so I thought I'd give 'em a try. (They were, by the way, $2.99 per pound to the $1.49 for the others.) I bought four and ate one on the way home. I didn't care so much for the texture, compared with that of a freshly picked Mac. But it had to be the juiciest apple I'd ever tasted, the flavor fresh and sweet. With each bite, more and more juice just gushed out of the thing. It was really quite an experience.

 

[EagerBeaver]

I was on my way home last night and, exiting the Metro, I saw a sign by the fruiterie "Honey Crisps," so I thought I'd give 'em a try. (They were, by the way, $2.99 per pound to the $1.49 for the others.) I bought four and ate one on the way home. I didn't care so much for the texture, compared with that of a freshly picked Mac. But it had to be the juiciest apple I'd ever tasted, the flavor fresh and sweet. With each bite, more and more juice just gushed out of the thing. It was really quite an experience.

As noted previously the Honeycrisp is an HDH apple. Other examples of HDH apples are Pink Lady, Jazz and Jonagold. To me the Honeycrisp is the best tasting of all of them, although I have heard from someone that Sweetango is another great HDH apple. The mother of Sweetango is Honeycrisp and the father is Zestar, so it is an apple that has very good breeding.

I agree that the McIntosh has a different texture than Honeycrisp. To me it is a powdery texture, similar to Red Delicious, which I do not care for. On the positive side, I like the tart taste of McIntosh.

To me the best value of the LDL apples is the Fuji. The Fuji is to me a better tasting apple than McIntosh or Cortland or Braeburn, similar LDL apples. While not as tart as McIntosh it tends to be juicier and I like the taste and texture better. I have found that Fujis can vary in quality. I bought some organic Fujis a few weeks ago that were the best Fujis I ever tasted and close to the Honeycrisp in quality, although the organic Fujis were also HDH in price.

To me the Pink Lady has a pear-like texture. It is the apple that tastes most like a pear, to me.

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

I agree that the McIntosh has a different texture than Honeycrisp. To me it is a powdery texture, similar to Red Delicious, which I do not care for. On the positive side, I like the tart taste of McIntosh.

I must respectfully disagree. There's nothing about the Red Delicious that I find appealing. The Mac quite the reverse. Perhaps, down there in the flatlands you've never had a Mac right off the tree. The problem with them is that they don't keep, not even a couple of weeks, before turning mealy.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I hate apples!