Kirk Schmidt’s fresh produce a staple on Englishtown Road and at area eateries F rom kiwifruit to Kansas, Kirk Schmidt has farmed it all. One of the only farmers in the area that grows kiwis, Schmidt said he started with them a decade ago because he always liked a challenge.
“Kiwi, it’s something that’s kind of unusual for our state to grow,” he said. He got the plants originally from a friend in Pennsylvania.
“I figured if they grow in Pennsylvania, they got to grow in New Jersey,” Schmidt said with a laugh.
Right now, the sweet-tart fruit known for its green flesh and edible black seeds, is still a few weeks from being ready. The kiwifruit, usually called just kiwi, is not the only produce Schmidt grows on his 25-acre farm on Englishtown Road in Old Bridge.
Blueberries, cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplant, multiple types of peppers, sweet corn and melons can all be found sprouting from the ground on Schmidt’s farm and nestled in appealing piles at his farm stand.
Schmidt had a simple answer for why he got started and what’s kept him going for decades.
“I’ve always liked working in the dirt,” he said.
Schmidt, who describes himself as “57 years young,” noted that that is the average age for “a farmer in the tri-state area.”
Currently, Schmidt is trying his hand at another challenge, pawpaws. The pawpaw, the largest edible indigenous fruit native to North America, is just beginning to gain some popularity in the state, Schmidt said.
The trees are just a few years old and haven’t produced fruit yet, but “they’re starting to take off,” he said.
Over time, Schmidt admits he’s learned a thing or two about farming that has helped him persist.
Top: Kirk Schmidt surveys his crops for ripeness on his 25-acre farm in Old Bridge. Above: Brown eggs from Schmidt’s hens sell for $2 per dozen. Left: Look for Schmidt’s Farm stand every weekend on Englishtown Road. PHOTOS BY SAM SLAUGHTER “Through the years you know what grows a little better for you. Everybody’s got a little bit different soil; you all don’t plant one type of everything,” he said.
In a similar vein, Schmidt has also cultivated friendships with the other farmers in the area.
“Everybody knows everybody. Everybody helps everybody when they can,” he explained. “I haven’t found any other farmer that I don’t like. Everyone’s pretty pleasant. If a crop goes bad on you, you can call them and they have some to sell you or something.”
Fruits, vegetables and friendships are not Schmidt’s only forte, though.
Schmidt said he has also been raising animals his entire life. Currently, he raises chickens, rabbits and pigs.
For $2 per dozen, a market-goer can take home some of Schmidt’s incredibly fresh brown eggs.
“If you buy an egg from me, it’s probably at most 3 to 4 days old, a week tops,” he said. “Eggs in the store, they have a long shelf life, especially the white eggs.”
Freshness is incredibly important to Schmidt when it comes to his eggs. He divulged an easyway to tell how fresh an egg is.
“When you crack a fresh brown egg or a super-fresh white egg, the yolk stands up high.”
“You buy a white egg from the store and crack it in a pan… the whole thing covers the whole pan. Well, that’s an old egg,” he concluded.
While New Jersey is his home and where he spends the majority of the year, Schmidt also tills the land in another part of the country. Schmidt has owned a 200-acre farm in Haddam, Kansas — population 169 as of the 2000 census — since the mid-2000s. A friend from high school, he said, moved out there shortly after graduation.
“One day he called me and said I should come out and look,” Schmidt recalled. “It’s exactly what I like. What our area used to be 150 years ago; that’s what it’s like out there now.
“You’ve got more freedom and more rights I feel,” he said.
For the past five years, Schmidt has visited Kansas five or six times a year. There he grows corn and beans. When he’s not there, he said, he has friends who take care of the farm.
The close bonds that people have to their space in Kansas also appeal to Schmidt.
“People really care about the area they live in; they really care about their towns,” he said.
Wherever he is, what everything comes down to in the end, Schmidt said, is hoping “to have a year where everything grows pretty good.”
Weather, though, as well as pests and wildlife, prevent this from happening from time to time.
“It’s part of being a farmer. Every day is different. Like the song goes, some days are diamond, some days are coal,” he chuckled.
Despite the weather, or any other problems thatmay arise, Schmidt still takes his produce out on his truck every weekend, selling along the side of Englishtown Road in front of his farm.
On Saturdays, he’s usually out at 7 a.m. and remains there until 6 p.m. On Sundays, he sells from about 8 a.m. Schmidt said he accepts WIC checks at his stand.
On any given summer weekend, with the usual traffic, plus additional traffic to recreational stops like nearby Raceway Park, Schmidt said he sells anywhere from 400 to 500 watermelons.
Schmidt also sells his produce to local pizzerias and luncheonettes and occasionally takes his produce to local co-ops.
“They all look forward to my tomatoes,” he said.