If that family had stayed, they would have seen what $12 really buys. And I'm not talking about Doyle's Farm's famous cornfield maze (one of the first in New Jersey), or the hayride out to the pumpkin field (awesome pumpkins 55 cents a pound), or the chance for the kids to build their own scarecrow (just bring old clothes and a five dollar bill), or the opportunity to see all of the farm animals up close (sheep and goats and horses and cows).
I'm not even talking about spending the day with your family, or seeing the smiles on your kids' faces when they find that perfect pumpkin, or enjoying the fresh cool Autumn air.
I'm talking about spending $12 to stand on a field that has been farmed by the same family for 5 generations - a field where Richard Doyle started finding Indian artifacts in 1929 and amassed a collection of over 20,000 - a field that was nearly obliterated ten years ago to make way for an enormous retirement development.
Twelve dollars to stand at the top of Mill Lane, look out towards Amwell Road, and say "This is Hillsborough".
Worth every penny.
All this is true and wonderful. And for many familys that live in urban areas, we live "in the sticks". To many tourists that visit here it is a "perfect fall day in the country", something we take for granted as we grumble about the huge piles of falling leaves. Activities of this nature are important to modern agricultural communities in order to ensure that enough money flows to the farm areas to keep them viable. Good for them for thinking out of the box in order to increase their incomes, as it benefits us all. Remember also, that just a few years ago it was emminent that 3000 units were to be planted on these soils. Let us not forget what can happen to our precious agricultural community if we lose track of our planning and zoning goals.
ReplyDeleteGreg, that comment might have been made by me! I was there that day, said that kind of comment (minus the curses) and walked away with my wife and son. It's $12 PER PERSON. My son is very allergic to horses and fairly alergic to most other animals. Therefore no petting zoo for us. He also has other allergies that allow him to ride a tractor with hay for a short period of time with medicine but would not survive the corn maze. Therefore the only thing we could do as a family outing there to support our local farmer was to go pick out a pumpkin. Sorry but $36 ($12 x 3) PLUS the cost of the pumkin when all we could do is just pumpkin shop was not feasible. We went to ShopRite. Sorry Doyle's Unami Farm but maybe you should section off the pumpkin field for those who, for medical reasons, cannot participate in the rest.
ReplyDeleteFunny thing is...My family went to Norz Hill Farm ( http://www.norzhillfarm.com ), also in Hillsborough, on Sunday and had to pay 1$ each to get a hayride to the pumpkin patch. I complained about that until my wife gave me a dirty look. I must say it was well worth it and the pumpkins were the same per pound. They didn't have a petting zoo though…pony rides were three dollars. What I liked most is that it was not super busy and the pumpkins were actually still on the vine. The last few years we've been to patches where you can tell the pumpkins were just dumped there. I had bad allergies when I was a kid too but grew out of it over time. I hope for the same result for your son.
ReplyDeleteNo, emailme08876, it was not you for sure, this was a group of FOUR, and I believe the one doing the cursing was Grandma!
ReplyDeleteBut your other comment is right on the mark, and something that I didn't say explicitly in the blog: Yes, it is a little expensive, but this is the one time a year when they have a chance to make a little money, and it's nice to be able to support that - provided you can actually participate in some of the activities!
Oh, and another thing - Shop Rite has some excellent pumpkins. I'm always amazed that they get such nice ones!
Chris, you are right on the money with your comments. And I would add that it isn't only the "city-folk" that can benefit from a "fall day in the country", but also plaenty of us right here in Hillsborough.
ReplyDeleteMr. Jensen
ReplyDeleteSeems most of those 3,000 units are now being planted off of Falcon Road. I guess most of the old FOH members must be lost walking around in the Dole Maze, because not a peep was ever heard form the against the Falcons road project and so many other large open space consuming projects that have occurred since FOH saved the backyards of the mountain kings and queens,
It’s too bad so many here in Hillsborough measure the “preciousness” of our open land by who’s backyard is located near.
It really is a shame you have to turn innocuous comments into partisan text. Have a good day.
ReplyDeleteYour innocuous non-partisan Comments
ReplyDeleteEnd after this sentence. – “Good for them for thinking out of the box in order to increase their incomes, as it benefits us all.”
The remainder of your post cause my response.
You have a nice day too!
Actually 698 units on 190 acres. (plus another 50 acres set aside for yet more commercial development on our side of town) Yes we never heard from FOH on this side of town, but I don't fault them totally, after all, it was out of their back yards so out of site, out of mind. Most of the fault really lies with the Planning board, Zoning board, Engineering Dept, Dept of Health who dropped the ball on this one big time. When questioned, everyone is good for pointing fingers at each other, but noting was done for the residents here.
ReplyDeleteShort history - The residents here met with the builder, at the Planning Boards recommendation at the time, to come to some sort of agreement on paper to satisfy both parties. Make a long story short, we came to an agreement - agreement entered into the meeting minutes of that board meeting marked "Exhibit P-1" and accepted by the builder who was in attendance at the time. Come to find out that the Planning board, Zoning, Engineering, whoever did not do their due diligence to ensure that these agreements went into the Site Plan - so the residents here were screwed big time by the town, and not to mention the developer who laughed all the way to the bank on this. What would have amounted to fractional costs to this builder to keep his word with the residents while still making his millions on this, he slaps us in the face. Thank you Planning Board, (those who approved at the time) and Zoning board, Engineering - everyone who was supposed to do their homework on this ensuring that established residents were protected. And FOH - you sleep tight over in your side of town, if you think this development will not impact you, think again. It will impact all of Hillsborough.
T, thanks for your comments on the Falcon Rd. development. I did not follow this issue very closely at all, although I was certainly aware that residents in the area had concerns.
ReplyDeleteWould it be possible for you to comment on two questions?
1. What were the biggest concerns of neighboring residents - what was in the agreement that you thought you had with the builder?
2. Is there anything at all that can be done now to satisfy neighboring residents?
Thanks for contributing!
Thanks for reading Gregg - its too much to explain in a blog but I posted in great deatail what's been going on on my website - http://noopenspaceleft.googlepages.com/home
ReplyDeletecheck it out if you get a chance and let me know what you think.
Thx.
T - I took a look at your web site. It is very informative, and a good read for anyone interested in that development.
ReplyDeletehttp://noopenspaceleft.googlepages.com/home
If I find out anything else about this project, I will try to include it in On Hillsborough.