Cherry Grove offers natural crops.
By: Lea Kahn
A carrot is a carrot is a carrot unless, of course, it has been grown on an organic farm. Then, it tastes like no other carrot on earth or the grocery store.
At least, that’s what people have told Matt Conver, who is the farm manager for the Cherry Grove Organic Farm at 11 Carter Road. The farm is in its second year of operation.
Organic farming is a technique to agriculture that does not rely on manmade fertilizers. Rather, it is a natural approach to farming.
Mr. Conver said people’s reaction when they eat a vegetable that has been grown on an organic farm is one of amazement at the fresh taste. The vegetables are harvested the day before they are sold, he said.
"The salad mix is still fresh in the bag," said Mr. Conver, who sells some of the produce at a farm market in Summit. The rest of the food is distributed to the members of the Cherry Grove Organic Farm cooperative.
The Cherry Grove Organic Farm, which belongs to the Hamill family of Lawrence Township, is one of five certified organic farms in Mercer County. All of the farms have been certified by the Northeast Organic Farm Association-New Jersey, which has an office in Pennington.
To become a certified organic farm, the farmer must meet standards set out by the National Organic Program in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said Karen Anderson, executive director of NOFA-NJ. The farm must be certified by an accrediting agency such as NOFA-NJ.
A farmer who is seeking to have his farm recognized as a certified organic farm must present an organic farm plan to an agency such as NOFA-NJ, Ms. Anderson said. The plan is updated annually, and the farm is inspected every year.
A certified farm plan outlines how the farmer would rotate the crops, how he would select the varieties of crops to be grown and how pests would be managed, Ms. Anderson said. The plan also would discuss how accidental contamination would be prevented such as the roadside spraying of weeds by road crews.
Synthetic fertilizer, which is created by a chemical process, is not allowed, Ms. Anderson said. Natural fertilizer goes through minimal processing. It may include compost, or mined material such as greensand or gypsum. A cover crop may be grown that is not harvested, but that adds organic material and nutrients to the soil, she said.
"Certification is a consumer protection so that when people pay premium prices for produce, they know it is really organic," she said. "It’s not somebody’s made-up idea of what organic is."
Organic farming requires more work than conventional farming, Mr. Conver said, but he would not have it any other way. The results are much more satisfying in part, because people seem to value organic farming, he said.
"At the Summit farm market, people ask if the food was grown on an organic farm and I tell them, ‘Yes,’" he said. "They like it. You are eating food that you know where it has been grown, and you can see it growing. You are working with the land, not manipulating it."
But consumers who are interested in eating organically grown produce don’t have to visit the farmers’ market. They can sign up to become members of Cherry Grove Organic Farm for an annual fee of $500, which entitles them to a share of the produce grown at the farm. Shares are distributed weekly for 25 weeks.
The produce grown on the 10 acres of cultivated land include arugula, broccoli, beets, carrots, lettuce, kale, peas, radishes and salad mix. The farm also grows peppers, squash, beans, tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers and potatoes. Flowers and herbs also are grown on the farm.
Shareholders do not have to perform any chores at the farm, Mr. Conver said. The work is carried out by the four employees, which includes himself and farm market manager Mikey Azzara. Some shareholders do visit the farm and help out, he added.
Buying produce at the grocery store does not provide the same connection to the food as seeing the bed where the food was grown, Mr. Conver said. Also, shareholders take the same risk that the farmer takes, he said.
"Last year, there was not a lot of rain," Mr. Conver said. "People told me they were watching the weather and looking for rain. A lot of people call it (Cherry Grove Organic Farm) their farm. They get a better appreciation (of what is involved). We get to know the members and their children."
Mr. Azzara, the farm’s marketing manager, said it is just as satisfying for himself and his co-workers to see who is eating the food as it is for the shareholders to get to know the farmers and the land.
Neither Mr. Conver nor Mr. Azzara set out to become organic farmers. They drifted into it as college students Mr. Conver as a student at East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania, and Mr. Azzara as a student at Middlebury College in Vermont.
Mr. Conver, who was majoring in environmental studies, decided to take time out from his studies, and took an internship on an organic farm. That was seven years ago, he said, and he has not looked back.
Mr. Conver worked on an organic farm in western Pennsylvania, and then took a job at another organic farm in Lambertville. The Ewing Township resident said he was approached by the Hamill family to start up the Cherry Grove Organic Farm two years ago.
Mr. Azzara, who is a Lawrence High School graduate, said he was entranced by the beauty of the land in Vermont. He said he also began to wonder where his food came from and how it was grown. He became interested in organic gardening.
That interest led to an internship on an organic farm in the Tuscany region of Italy, Mr. Azzara said, adding that it offered him a chance to combine his interest in organic farming with his desire to visit Italy.
When he returned home to Lawrence Township, Mr. Azzara found a job at Spring Hill Farm in Hopewell Township. Later, he was referred to Mr. Conver and the Cherry Grove Organic Farm which has proven to be satisfying, because he is farming in his hometown, he said.
For more information on the Cherry Grove Organic Farm, call (609) 306-5139.

