Not-so-perfect storm

Longtime township farmer hoping for best after Ernesto

By: Dick Brinster
   EAST WINDSOR — Henry Estenes hopes this won’t end up being be another tough year on the farm.
   Meanwhile, he’ll be hoping for no more wet weather while chasing away as many birds and deer as possible.
   "Many years you spend in farming are discouraging, very discouraging," he said recently as he glanced out at his 70-acre spread on Disbrow Hill Road.
   Mr. Estenes, nearing his 80th birthday, has been fighting those triple demons of agriculture for most of his life. About two weeks ago, when the remnants of Hurricane Ernesto drenched the area, he took a financial hit.
   "We lost hundreds and hundreds of melons," he explained. "We didn’t need that hurricane."
   And the torrent of rain means he’ll have to wonder for a while if the Sandy Acres farm that has been in his family since he was a year old will turn a profit in 2006. For now, he can only hope that 52-year-old son Stephen and his wife, Janet, get enough for the crops they sell to the Trenton Farmers Market.
   "I won’t know until Thanksgiving, maybe Christmas," Mr. Estenes said. "We’ve still got some crops out."
   But you won’t find any inviting birdbaths among the orchards where he grows apples and peaches or in the seemingly endless fields of green where everything from sweet corn to hot peppers need tender loving care. Birds and deer are as much a menace as the weather.
   "You’re always combating the weather," said Mr. Estenes, the sole surviving of six sons who lived into their 80s. "I’d rather see it dry. You can put water on but you can’t take it away."
   Even a drought is preferable to very wet weather, although Mr. Estenes says extremely dry weather also eats into his profits. He claims his fuel bill for operating machinery to harvest and irrigate sometimes ran to about $1,000 a week this summer.
   "But it’s still better than too much rain," he said. "When you water the crops, you can control them."
   He said the quality of the crops is superior when the weather is dry.
   "You don’t get that fungus that grows on them when they’re wet," he said.
   He learned that early on from a father who lived to be 92. Mr. Estenes also found out about public enemy No. 2, the winged and hungry creatures that consider survival more important than Mr. Estenes’ profit margin.
   "The birds are getting terrible," he said. "They pick on the fruits and vegetables."
   This year’s greatest loss was a large portion of his sweet corn crop. Mr. Estenes has a remedy for that that seems far more effective than the trademark scarecrows of an earlier era.
   He knows what to do about the pesky birds and deer, but isn’t free to just chase them away with his loud noise-making devices.
   "I’ve got a permit from the state to operate them," he said. "But I don’t dare use them unless I contact the Police Department."
   That’s noise to some, but Mr. Estenes could consider all the racket music to his ears.
   "It bangs off every 10 minutes, baboom, bang," he said. "Away they go."
   Mr. Estenes’ sound effects brought laughter to an old friend, Cranbury resident Fred Ritter, who stopped by on this overcast day to buy some peaches.
   "He’s quite a guy," said Mr. Ritter, 80. "I’ve known him since our school days."
   Mr. Ritter says Sandy Acres offers the best cantaloupes in the state.
   "He has cantaloupes like this," Mr. Ritter said, holding his hands about 8 inches apart.
   He also loves the sweet corn and watermelon.
   But Mr. Ritter might come around even if his old friend sold nothing. He enjoys poking fun at the gentleman farmer.
   "I’m two months older than you," he said. "You’re only a kid."
   Then tales he admits are as tall as some of the Sandy Acres corn stalks come rolling out.
   "He always chased the women," Mr. Ritter said.
   "What are you talking about?" Mr. Estenes chimed in. "I was married for 52 years to the same women."
   He has been without her since 2000. Despite the death of his soulmate and farming partner, Mr. Estenes presses on.
   For how much longer he’ll continue, he isn’t saying. But he’ll be chasing birds and deer until he calls it quits, and dodging the quips of friends such as Mr. Ritter.
   "Fred said I was a girl chaser," Mr. Estenes noted. "Well, we all were when we were teenagers."