Strawberry Hill Farm - Chesterfield, NJ

Nothing says fall like doing some apple picking, so today Zelda and I decided to check out Strawberry Hill Farm in Chesterfield, NJ. 

Not a day goes by, well, a week day at least, that I don't see the sign for Strawberry Hill Farm on my way to work.  They have the u-pick signs right on the main drag that I take to work, and I have always wondered where this place was.  Needless to say, it is pretty easy to get to, and only about a 10 minute drive from our CSA, Fernbrook Farms.  Note that they can also be found on Facebook by clicking here.

So coming down Waln Road, we immediately saw the apple orchard on both sides of the road.  You pull up to a garage like structure, and we were greeted by a very nice gentleman who gave us the low down.  We asked if he had any recommendations, and the first thing he asked was what we were doing with them.  Well, the plan was to make some homemade apple sauce, and to make some caramel apples as well.  With that said, he suggested the Fuji, Red Delicious, Gold Delicious, and the Granny Smith.

He also gave us a quick instruction on how all the rows are marked, and how our best best was to go to the end of each row as most people are picking at the beginning or in the middle of the rows.  So he gave us a plastic bucket lined with a plastic bag, and off we went!  Easy enough right?  You got it, but he also encouraged us to pull apples off the tree and give them a try to see what we liked!  And you can bet we took advantage of that.

So off we went, to the orchard behind the garage.  If I had to guess, there were 16 rows or so of trees, and like he said, each one was individually labeled with the variety.  We started in the next to last row with the Gold Delicious apples, and we both immediately started to look for an apple to sink our teeth into!

Neither of us were really sure what the perfectly ripe apple looked like, but from the apples we picked, I think we did very well.  The fruit was a gorgeous golden color, and from the first apple that I picked, there were no blemishes on it, and it just looked perfect. 

From here, we went row to row, and grabbed anything from the Golden Delicious, to Fuji, Empire, and Rome.  The one varietal however we couldn't find were the Granny Smith's, but we'll get to this momentarily.

We had filled our bucket, and headed back to the shop to pay for our apples.  When all was said and done, our grand total came to $10 at a rate of .70 cents per pound.  You really can't beat that for apples right off the tree that were absolutely delicious.

We also noticed that they had mum's for sale at 6 for $22 if I remember correctly.  These were really nice sized pots, and were large and colorful.  Inside the shop, we also noticed some local honey being advertised, and when we looked at the label, sure enough it was from "Bob's Buzzy Bee's!"  Leave it to Bob to get his honey everywhere!

As we were leaving, the gentleman mentioned that they were hoping to stay open for another month or so, which I think is great  So with that being said, we'll probably be back so long as the weather holds out!  The homemade apple sauce that Zelda made is delicious, so it's just a matter of time before we need some more apples!

All in all, it was a nice day, and a great place at affordable prices to pick apples!  That being said, check it out for yourself, and tell them that F. Scott and Zelda sent ya!  Cheers!

Strawberry Hill Farm
3 Waln Road
Chesterfield, NJ  08515
Phone:  609-298-0823
http://strawberryhillfarm.org/

Open daily 9AM-5PM      No dogs please.