We’re celebrating our 40th year of farming in Chester, NJ and are excited to share our humble roots with you. Farmer Kurt W. Alstede started farming on a couple acres of farmland located in Chester Township, NJ back in 1982. The farmland was originally owned by the Mennen family purchasing the land in the late …
Garlic is one of those things that is so very loved by some and not so much by others, a true dichotomy if you start asking around. Here’s an example of that divide, even in our culinary specialist Miss Jenn’s’ own family, as her parents cooked with garlic daily while growing up. Now she and …
Peach blossoms typically have five pink petals, but they are occasionally known to be white. Peaches are either freestones or clingstones, the difference being the flesh separating easily from the pit or not. Freestone peaches flesh is easily separated from the pit, while the other is not. Peaches have fuzzy skin. Peaches with smooth skin …
We love featuring the wonderful team working for us on our farm. This week’s highlight features Maria & Sindy, the dynamic duo in our food service division. Maria has worked all different facets of our farm learning all the way. She worked our tailgate markets where she helped guests shop for our delicious produce before …
Do you know? Is Corn a fruit or a vegetable? Corn is technically a fruit as it derives from a seed of a flowering plant. There are generally two types of corn, sweet corn and field corn. The differences between sweet corn and field corn are that sweet corn is picked when immature and used …
Bean thinking about healthy eating? Try adding green beans into your summer dishes to enjoy the health benefits of eating farm fresh and in season. The green bean is a herbaceous plant belonging to the legume family and has been around for a very long time. Some say that there are over 100 varieties of …
Blueberries certainly are berry good eats and they are in season now on our farm. There are generally two types of blueberry bushes: the first being wild (commercially known as lowbush) blueberries and cultivated (commercially known as highbush) blueberries. We have seven plus acres of the highbush blueberry variety on our farm. Highbush blueberries have …
We are continuing to improve our innovations in farming with the addition of four new weather stations on our farm. These four different stations are less than one year old and are a way to utilize technology for saving time & improving efficiency while aiding our water conservation efforts and enhancing farming techniques. Our weather …
Peas may be thought of as a vegetable, however, are actually a legume belonging to the same family as beans, peanuts, chickpeas and lentils. Peas grow on a vine in pods and are easy to tell when ripe for picking as they become plump. They are in season in NJ mid June through July and …
You may have heard about garlic scapes and their alluring flavor and uncommonly unique taste. Garlic scapes are a vegetable, an aromatic, and also an herb all in one. They are the tender stem and flower buds of a garlic plant and grow straight up from a garlic bulb and then curl a bit by …
One bite and you will taste (and see) the difference between local farm fresh strawberries and the supermarket variety. Not only do local berries taste sweeter, they also are red all the way through as they are fully grown. Local strawberries are allowed to ripen in the fields and picked at the peak of freshness. …
Rhubarb is a vegetable often put into the same culinary uses as fruits. Rhubarb consists of red stalks (similar in texture to celery) with long green leaves which are non-edible. Considered a powerhouse veggie rhubarb is rich in phytochemicals, phenols, as well as other vitamins, minerals and nutrients. Rhubarb is in season April through June …
