Fruit Picking at Ferme Courtois, Versoix
I’ve been meaning to go fruit-picking with Kai for some time now, and when a friend invited me one sunny Saturday afternoon, it was just the thing we needed to make the most of the sun and for the kids to be able to play together.
The Ferme Courtois is just outside Geneva, about a 30 minute drive from the centre of town. It is also accessible by bus U, stop Sauverny, Combes Chapuis which runs between Bossy and Chavannes-des-Bois.
The only thing you need is a bag, and tupperware/punnet for picking raspberries. There are wheelbarrows there, if you plan to get a lot of apples!
When we got there, the kids promptly started on what ended up being an all-you-can-eat raspberry buffet, as the kids were well placed to pick literally the low-hanging fruits and eat them as they went along. We still managed to pick a few as we went along to be paid for at the end! I did see some smarter parents come along with empty punnets they had gotten from buying fruits at the supermarket to fill them with, as mine just got squashed in a bag.
They are mainly an apple-picking farm, however they did have other vegetables too, such as sweetcorn, pumpkin, beetroot, leek, courgettes, runner beans and Swiss chard to name a few.
The sweetcorn made for a fun thing to run through for Kai as the farmer there told us it wasn’t quite ready to be picked yet.
There were many types of apples and we initially panicked as we started walking through the apple trees as they all seemed to have been picked already!!! But as we walked towards the back, we saw there were plenty of apples, ready to be picked. Panic over.
The farmer informed me that to pick an apple, you simply lift it to take it off the branch, no need to twist. I can confirm this is a very effective method for getting an apple off a tree.
It turns out that it is very economical too, to pick your own fruits. I didn’t get a lot of things, probably a dozen apples, 3 courgettes and about 100grams of raspberries. This all came to CHF5!
We spent an hour and a half there easily, and because Kai was there with his friend, he had a great time running around!
The area is fenced in too, so we could pick fruits in the relative safety of being in an enclosed space.
The farm is currently open on the weekends all day, and Wednesday afternoons.
I highly recommend this as a dog and child-friendly activity if you have a sunny morning/afternoon to spare during the fruit-picking season.
Fun factor for child: 3/5 - Pick raspberries and apples, have identifying different vegetables and picking them!
Fun factor for dog: 1/5 - Not Luka’s idea of fun but beats staying at home alone
Pram-friendly: Yes
Water Access for dogs: No
Potable water: No
Baby changing facilities: No
Please review the Disclaimer before attempting any walk or activity mentioned on this website.
