It’s no secret that the best fruit and produce one can taste, is that which is grown locally and picked fresh off of trees and plants rooted in fertile local soil! Hillcrest Orchard, located one half mile east of Walnut Creek, is the best place to find such local goodness and with 22 varieties of apples and 12 varieties of peaches grown on their 75 acre orchard, you're sure to find exactly what your taste buds find delightful. 

The store at Hillcrest is packed with not only fresh fruit and produce but also with the full line of nuts and tons of fall decor. Citrus from the south is available in season and their porch is lined with rustic whiskey barrels and wooden apple crates for a creative person to purchase. You will also want to taste a sample of their fresh squeezed apple cider which is pressed every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday beginning the third week of September. The apples are thoroughly washed and sanitized before being pressed, bottled, and cooled. Because the cider has no added ingredients besides apple juice and is never heated or pasteurized, its flavor is like no other and can be used to make vinegar or wine. By law, unpasteurized cider can only be sold on site, so people travel as far as 150 miles to purchase Hillcrests’ delicious blend, sometimes buying it in bulk to freeze for later use.  During their busiest days, Hillcrest can easily sell 1800 gallons of fresh sweet cider in a weekend, selling 35,000 gallons per year. 

For those looking for a quality apple, Hillcrest Orchard has plenty to choose from and this can make it confusing for the prospective buyer. Hillcrest’s desire is to satisfy every persons needs as far as apples, and since everybody is different, it can be a challenge. Lots of people stick with the older varieties which they have grown up with such as Jonathon, MacIntosh, and Grimes Golden. These apples have been around for years and are still available from Hillcrest every year, being solid choices for the person who likes to know the apple they are buying and what it is good for. But also, on a yearly basis, new varieties are being started and are hitting the markets, much to the delight of the more adventurous customers. In the next few years you will begin to see a new apple called Evercrisp at Hillcrest, with the oldest trees a mere two years old. 

Evercrisp is a cross between Fuji and Honeycrisp, two extremely popular fresh eating apples. Honeycrisp has been around for 25 years and gained its popularity from its signature texture which creates a delightful “snap” when you bite into it and also its wonderful flavor and juiciness. But Honeycrisp has one major flaw and that is that they are not very good storage apples, a fact that many buyers don’t realize until it’s too late. Fuji, on the other hand is also a good flavored sweet eating apple and has an exceptionally long storage life. Hillcrest believes that by crossing Fuji and Honeycrisp, Evercrisp will be the new best all around eating apple and time will tell if the Evercrisp apple will match its parents in popularity and quality. 

Many other good varieties such as Jonagold, Mutsu, and Gala are also available from Hillcrest. Mutsu is another interesting apple, as it originated in Japan and is also known as the Japanese Golden Delicious or by its American name, Crispin. Mutsu are picked around the middle of October and are an excellent storage apple, making them available throughout the winter. Mutsu are actually half Golden Delicious and are slightly more tangy than Goldens but are enjoyed because of their usual colossal size and good all around characteristics. Golden Delicious are still the most popular and hottest seller for Hillcrest as they are widely known locally as the best all around apple on the market. 

If you’re wondering about peaches, Hillcrest will have approximately a 25% crop of their own peaches this year as a large amount were frozen in last winters harsh cold weather. Peaches freeze at -15º below zero during the winter and apples can handle down to -40º below. Though there might be a shortage of local peaches this year, the grower from Virginia which Hillcrest buys a lot of peaches from, has an excellent crop this year, so be sure to stop in the store during August to buy good sweet peaches. 

Hillcrest Orchard is family owned and operated by the Merle Hershberger family. They are open seasonally from August until April and located at 2474 Walnut Street, one half mile east of Walnut Creek, Ohio 44687. For more information call, 330-893-9906