Best Picks For Pick-Your-Own, U-Cut In Chester, Mendham

CHESTER, NJ — It’s that time of year again when multiple crops are in season in New Jersey, with pick-your-own or “PYO” locations around the region. Among things ready-to-pick, are: blueberries, peaches, sunflowers, gooseberries and tomatoes.

Plus, there are destinations with u-cut sunflowers and other flowers in season now.

Chester has two of these local treasures with summer seasonal PYO crops.

Sunflower season is not only a great time for blooms, but beautiful photos, with some local farms offering backdrops with sunflowers in specific photo fields, as well as props to use in the pictures. Stony Hill Farms, for example, in the video below, shows their props, including a tractor and fence.

At Alstede Farms, one can pick what’s available, then shop at the farm's store, grab a snack or ice cream, get lost within one of the farm's seasonal mazes and visit the farm's animals.
Stony Hill Farms also has its own store, as well as an expansive greenhouse, which specializes in growing orchids among its plants and flowers.

Below are some of the region’s farms and some of the special steps to do before heading to them, like advance ticket or reservation requirements before picking, with some accepting payment by cash only for PYO crops.

Where To PYO In Chester and Mendham This Season
Alstede Farms
Where: 1 Alstede Farms Lane
Call for more information: 908-258-6245
How to go pick: First, check out where the farm lists its picking availability on its schedule page. For more specifics, click here for “What Can I Pick Today.” This page posts photos of the crops ready to be picked, taken home and enjoyed. The page also rates the picking conditions for each crop. As of July 23 for example, picking conditions are excellent for: yellow and white peaches, blueberries and sunflowers. Gooseberries can be picked as well, with conditions presently good. From there, admissions for PYO can be purchased online, with access to each of the fields and associated costs by clicking here. For pick-your-own sunflowers, visitors can bring their own cutting shears or rent them on site for a $10 refundable deposit each.
Other fun things to do: While at Alstede Farms, visit their farm store for their fresh produce, grass-fed meats, fresh baked goods, local honey and other favorites.
Enjoy soft-serve or old-fashioned ice cream and other frozen treats at Alstede’s stand.
Grab a burger, chicken fingers, hot dogs and other menu items at the Hen House.
Spend time with the farm’s cows, sheep, horses, donkeys, goats, rabbits, chickens, ducks and turkeys.
Visit Alstede’s seasonal mazes.
Click here for more fun things to do during a visit to Alstede Farms.

Stony Hill Farms
Where: 15 North Road
Call for more information: 908-879-2908
How to pick: Visit Stony Hill’s u-pick page for the latest information about what’s available to pick. During the farm’s Sunflower Festival, visitors can also pick Zinnias. Tickets are necessary for every participant over the age of two, with weekday or weekend reservations. Check them out on Facebook for the latest updates or call them.
Other fun things to do: Stop to the farm market at Stony Hill, which stocks seasonal produce and plants, specialty food items, decor, baked goods, gifts and more.
Stony Hill’s gardens boast over 20,000 square feet of greenhouse space, with seasonal annual and perennial plants, bulbs and orchids, as well as a florist.

Other Nearby Farms With PYO This Season

Where To PYO In Long Valley This Season
Ort Farms
Where: 25 Bartley Road, Long Valley
Call for more information: 908-876-3351
How to pick: Ort Farms offers PYO vegetables and u-cut sunflowers and Zinnias. Click here for more information and to buy tickets. Visit the website for a 2021 season pass, for $32.95 per person, which includes PYO produce and flowers, but is for admission to fields and trails. Their “Fresh Air Friday” coming up on Friday, July 30 at 3 p.m. is for pick-your-own tomatoes. Click here for tickets.
Other fun things to do: There are other happenings at the farm, see their full upcoming events calendar here. Before or after activities, guests to Ort Farms can stop to the farm's market, with local produce, fresh baked goods, dairy items, honeys and food items, jams, flowers and more. The farm market includes five greenhouses with vegetable plants, herbs, annuals, perennials, hanging baskets, potting soil, garden soil and mulch.

Where To PYO In Warren County This Season
Race Farm
Where: 37 Belcher Road, Blairstown
Call for more information: 908-362-8151
How to pick: Race Farm has u-pick peaches, apricots and blueberries now. Visit them on Facebook here, for hours and availability.
Other fun things to do: Check out the Race Farm stand on 224 Route 94 in Blairstown for freshly-picked items. Their Harvest Kitchen is also here, with homemade soups, hummus, ice cream, cold-pressed juices, baked goods and more, all under the direction of the farm’s certified nutrition therapist.

VonThun Farms
Where: 438 Route 57, Washington
Call for more information: 732-958-6816
How to pick: Find information here about all the u-pick produce available now. Among them are raspberries and peaches. Blackberries are coming soon. Visit this page for the full u-pick schedule year-round, admission and crop prices. They also have a u-cut sunflower trail and photo field open through Labor Day. For tickets and more information, visit this page.
Other fun things to do: The farm market is a sister location to Von Thun Farms’ main market in South Brunswick. Here they sell farm fresh produce, eggs, sauces, honey, jams, Pennsylvania Dutch candies, private label products, handmade lotions and soaps and other items.
Payment is accepted at the store by cash, credit or debit cards and WIC vouchers and Senior FMNP for produce items.
VonThun’s is known as well for its natural Angus beef, grass-fed and raised at the farm.
The farm’s “Friends & Neighbors Club” offers customer rewards for shopping with them.

Questions or comments about this story? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.