Rutel’s Pick-Your-Own: a fresh basket to assemble with the family near Meaux (77)

Craving a nature-filled, family-friendly outing in Seine-et-Marne (77) ? Head to the Cueillette de Rutel in Villenoy to pick your own seasonal fruit and vegetables, fill your basket via a short supply chain and enjoy a family farm just a stone’s throw from Meaux. A spot that evokes Briarde countryside, the garden paths, and the baskets you fill as the seasons change!

At Cueillette de Rutel, visitors come to harvest produce at its peak ripeness, savoring the simple pleasure of choosing exactly what will end up on the plate. Notably, the ferme has tilled the land for more than six generations (!), guided by the famille Dujardin-Hardy.

From late March to mid-November, the pickings let you harvest more than 70 varieties of fruits and vegetables across about twenty hectares of vegetable plots and orchards. Apples, tomatoes, carrots, zucchini, pumpkins and other seasonal staples evolve with the weather and the harvests. Here, the agricultural calendar sets the tempo, like a delectable score we rediscover with each visit.

The farm showcases sustainable agriculture, with varieties chosen for their flavor. Young and old alike appreciate its direct, practical approach: eat local, understand the seasonality, and leave with products that haven’t traversed half the country to reach your basket!

• To be read
• La Cueillette de Servigny, a gourmet pick-your-own farm in Seine-et-Marne (77)
• The Grange Pick-Your-Own - Coubert, Brie’s grand vegetable garden (77)
• The Plessis Pick-Your-Own in Chanteloup and Lumigny, the go-to gourmet bargain in Seine-et-Marne (77)

Note that although the harvest is possible for only part of the year, the farm shop stays open all year, and you can find Seine-et-Marne products (outdoor-reared poultry, meats from nearby farms), sourced from producers committed to artisanal and traditional methods. A wonderful discovery for a family outing—get some fresh air, shop differently, and rediscover the simple pleasure of seasonal produce!

Fruit, vegetable and flower picking around Paris and the Ile-de-France region
Why not take advantage of the warmer weather to pick your own fruit, vegetables and flowers at the various pick-your-own sites in Paris and the Île-de-France region? [Read more]