The Donaldson family has farmed in Hackettstown since 1906, starting with a small livestock and crop farm that grew into a dairy, potato and grain operation. When dairying stopped paying in the 1980s the family diversified, and Greg Donaldson's roadside stand grew into the Farm Market on Allen Road in 1991. The family now farms about 500 acres and leases 500 more, around 400 of them in fruits and vegetables, and Rutgers calls it a model farm. Growing is conventional but leans on integrated pest management, cover crops and grafted tomatoes. The market bakes pies daily, makes its own jams, jellies, applesauce, salsa and tomato sauce, and carries meats and goods from nearby producers.
What’s here
- Made here
- Fresh-baked pies, more than 20 varieties (apple, pumpkin, pecan, cherry crumb, peach praline and more) · 6-inch pies and no-sugar-added pies · Creme pies: chocolate, coconut custard, lemon meringue · Key lime pie, loaf cakes, crumb cakes, pumpkin rolls and whoopie pies · Jams and jellies · Applesauce, salsa and tomato sauce · Honey
- Grown or raised here
- Apples · Pumpkins, gourds and winter squash · Strawberries, raspberries and blackberries · Peaches and cantaloupe · Sweet corn · Tomatoes, including heirlooms · Peppers, eggplant, zucchini and cucumbers · Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts · Potatoes, beets and garlic · Asparagus, spinach and lettuce
- Sold here from other producers
- Meats from The Meat Shoppe at Arctic Foods · Griggstown pot pies · Greene's Beans coffee · Local glass-bottled milk, cheese and dairy · Local maple syrup · Apple cider · Produce from other farms before and after the local season · Gift boxes and baskets of local products
- Served here
- Apple cider donuts by the half dozen, kettle corn, caramel apples and lemonade on Fall Harvest Weekends · Visiting food trucks and an ice cream truck on harvest weekends
This season
Pick-your-own pumpkins run daily through Halloween. An April freeze took much of the apple crop, but as of Oct 6 the farm was offering pick-your-own Liberty, Empire, Macoun, McIntosh and Jonathan while they last, and its own apples are in the market. Fall Harvest Weekends run through Oct 31 plus Columbus Day (Oct 12). In winter the market keeps baking pies, bread and muffins, and the family's Greenhouse & Nursery down the lane sells Christmas trees and its own poinsettias.
Details checked against Donaldson Farms’ own site on ; not yet confirmed by the business. Hours change, so check before you go. Spot a mistake? Tell us.