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