Kyles purchase 77 acres of protected farmland in East Windsor from state Agriculture Development Committee.
By: David Pescatore
EAST WINDSOR As farmers, the Kyle family has to deal with a lot of variables. There is the price of supplies, insurance and labor, and, of course, the weather. But one of those variables was removed when they purchased 77 acres of protected farmland, on Windsor-Perrineville Road, from the state Agriculture Development Committee on June 19.
"This is the only way we could afford land," said Sharon Kyle, 33, who along with her husband, Kevin, 39, purchased the land for $365,000, or about $4,700 per acre.
"Decent land costs about $10,000 in this area," Mrs. Kyle said. "Developers will pay $50,000 to $60,000 for the same land."
The Kyles have been farming together for 15 years, mostly on 50 acres of leased ground spread along Cedarland Road.
"We could have continued if we had known we were going to have it," said Mr. Kyle. "But there was no guarantee year to year that the land would be available."
Owning the single, larger tract also saves time, according to Mr. Kyle, the self-proclaimed "brawn of the operation," to Mrs. Kyle’s "brains." He still regularly puts in 14-hour days tending to the crops, but now there is no wasted time traveling from plot to plot.
The Kyles were married in 1989 and began working 20 acres on Cedarville Road. In 1991, they purchased 4½ acres in Cream Ridge and opened K & S Farms roadside market and nursery, where they still live with their three children, Amanda, 10; Kathleen, 7; and Patrick, 5.
The family grows an entire produce section. During various seasons, the Kyles grow asparagus, peas, scallions, radishes, tomatoes, corn, pumpkins, and many more fruits and vegetables. They grow 10,000 chrysanthemums per year and sell shrubs and decorations from their market.
The fruits and vegetables they raise in East Windsor will go to their store or be sold at the Englishtown Farmers Market and at farm markets in northern New Jersey.
Mrs. Kyle spends four days a week selling the family’s wares at farmers markets set up through the New Jersey Farmers Market Council, which brings fresh produce to urban areas.
"You take some place like Hoboken," Mrs. Kyle said, using her Tuesday stop as an example. "They have no open space. The only produce they can get is from the supermarket. It is very rewarding to go there. It is nice when people look forward and appreciate you."
The Kyles said that they plan to work with the township now that their roots are permanent.
"We want to have a pick-your-own-pumpkin patch and we are hoping to open a corn maze in the fall," Mrs. Kyle said.
Mr. Kyle said that he would like to work with area schoolchildren, teaching them about farming.
The Kyles’ new land was part of the 245-acre Cedarland Farm, purchased by the SADC in February for $2.4 million, more than double the price per acre paid by the Kyles.
The SADC purchases land from farm owners, then resells it with restrictions that prevent the new owners from developing the land, preserving it for farming purposes only.
"The difference between what the state paid and what we received at the auction is the price we paid to preserve this valuable land," said SADC Executive Director Gregory Romano in a prepared statement. "We can now use this money from the Kyles to buy more farms and to resell them to more farmers."
Now that the immediate future is set for the Kyles, they can look further down the road.
"Patrick wants to be a farmer," said Mrs. Kyle.
Patrick confirmed this, but the future of K & S Farms may not be so certain.
Where does Patrick hope to till the earth?
"Florida," he said while playing in the soil.