Oct 2026: A severe spring freeze cut this year's apple crop, so some varieties are limited. Call the farm market at 732-821-9494 for what is ready to pick.
Giamarese Farm & Orchards At A Glance...
- Ride the hayride and run the corn maze as many times as you like on a fall weekend visit, with no time limit on your day.
- More than a dozen apple varieties grow in the orchard, from Honeycrisp and Cameo to Macoun, Jonagold and Stayman Winesap.
- Pick your own from late May strawberries to choose-and-cut Christmas trees in December.
- The same family has farmed this land since 1941, and the barn and farm market stand on the 20 acres it added in 1947.
- Todays Sunrise: , Sunset:
- New Jersey Gateway Region Middlesex County
About Giamarese Farm & Orchards
Giamarese Farm & Orchards is a family farm on Fresh Ponds Road in East Brunswick, owned by the Giamarese family since 1941; Jim and Sue Giamarese took it over in the 1980s. It covers more than 75 acres and is open from May to December, with pick your own through most of that time.
Picking starts in late May with strawberries, sugar snap and English peas and spring lettuces and spinach. Through summer and into fall there are tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, green beans and other vegetables to pick, apples run from late August to mid-October in more than a dozen varieties, pumpkins follow in September and October, and choose-and-cut Christmas trees finish the year from Thanksgiving week to Christmas Eve.
Fall is the busiest time. On Fall Harvest Weekends, from mid-September through October, one admission covers parking, a tractor-drawn hayride tour of the farm and the corn maze, as many times as you like and with no time limit on your visit, plus a picking pass for apples, pumpkins and vegetables. There are also pony rides, farm animals, sunflower picking and food vendors.
The farm market and the farm's other small stores sell the farm's own sweet corn and produce, local honey, farm fresh eggs, homemade baked goods, maple syrup and fruit spreads, plus mums, straw bales, corn stalks, gourds and fall and Halloween decorations in autumn. The farm does not grow Roundup Ready GMO crops.
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Amenities:
- Parking Lot(s)
Farming:- Apple Picking
- Christmas Tree (cut your own)
- Corn Maze
- Farm Market
- Hay Rides
- Pick Your Own
- Pumpkin Picking
- Strawberry Picking
Attractions:- Animals
Rules/Regulations:- Entrance Fee Required
- Dogs Not Permitted
Contact / Location
A Brief History
The Giamarese family came from Italy around 1910 and farmed rented land in Jamaica, Long Island, then in Jamesburg and on Dunhams Corner Road in East Brunswick. In 1941 they bought the first 20 acres of today's farm, down by the pond, and in 1947 added the neighboring 20 acres where the barn and farm market now stand. German Dutch farmers had started the farm around the 1860s.
Jim and Sue Giamarese began running the farm in 1981 and bought it in 1986 from Jim's parents, aunts and uncles. They turned it from a wholesale truck farm, which grew produce to truck into the city, into a retail farm market with pick-your-own crops. They were named National Outstanding Young Farmers in 1989 and Vegetable Grower of the Year in 2012, and Jim has served as president of the State Board of Agriculture.
Programs / Education
School trips run on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays in September and October: a tractor-drawn hayride tour of the farm with talks about the crops, a visit with the farm animals and time to pick, with apples or a sugar pumpkin to take home. The hayride takes 30 to 40 minutes, with another 30 to 40 minutes for picking. There is a 15-student minimum and one chaperone is needed for every 10 students. For 2026 the fee is $12 or $15 per student, depending on what students take home. Call 732-821-9494 to book.
Tips and Tricks
Stop at the farm market before heading to the fields, for bags, containers and carts and the board showing what is ready. Pick only what is listed there and only ripe fruit, since small or unlisted crops are charged at three times the price, and pay for everything you pick. There is no eating in the fields, no picnicking, no climbing the trees and no carts in the apple orchard. Groups of 15 or more should give at least 24 hours notice. Pets are not allowed on the farm; service animals are welcome, but emotional support animals are not counted as service animals. For GPS, the farm gives 40.429202, -74.451783.
Admission & Guidelines
For 2026, Fall Harvest Weekend admission is $15 per person, and children 3 feet tall and under are free. It includes parking, a picking pass for apples, pumpkins and vegetables, unlimited hayride tours, unlimited trips through the corn maze, and two sunflowers or one sugar pumpkin. Anything you pick is paid for separately, and pony ride tickets are sold on site. On Tuesdays through Fridays, pick-your-own admission alone is $3 per person, again with the picking paid for separately.
Hours / Season of Operation
The farm is open from mid-May to December, Tuesday through Sunday, and closed on Mondays. The farm market is open 9 AM to 6 PM through spring, summer and fall, and 9 AM to 5 PM in winter. It is closed from January to mid-May.
Pick your own runs 9 AM to 4:30 PM Tuesday through Friday and 9 AM to 4 PM on weekends. Arrive at least 90 minutes before closing to pick, or 2 hours before closing on Fall Harvest Weekends, and call the farm market at 732-821-9494 to check what is ready, since it changes daily.
Fall Harvest Weekends run Saturdays and Sundays from mid-September through October; for 2026 they began Saturday, September 19. The farm closes at 6 PM, and admission stops at 4 PM. Crop seasons: strawberries and peas late May to June, spring greens late May to early July, apples late August to mid-October, pumpkins September and October, Christmas trees Thanksgiving week to Christmas Eve.
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Nearby Places
Make a day of it with Rutgers Gardens in New Brunswick, about 3.5 miles away, or a walk at Davidsons Mill Pond Park in South Brunswick, about 3 miles away.
Here are 10 places near Giamarese Farm & Orchards
- Giamarese Farm & Orchards (~0 miles)
- Roadrunner Sports (North Brunswick, NJ) (~2 miles)
- Davidsons Mill Pond Park (~3 miles)
- E.A.R.T.H. Center (in Davidsons Mill Pond Park) (~3 miles)
- Pelican Outdoor Products (East Brunswick) (~3 miles)
- Rutgers Gardens - New Brunswick (~3 miles)
- Naaman Williams Park (~4 miles)
- Elmer B Boyd Park (~4 miles)
- Donaldson Park (~4 miles)
- Donaldson Park Off Leash Dog Area (~5 miles)
- Snyders Farm (~5 miles)
- Six Mile Run Reservoir (~6 miles)
East Brunswick, New Jersey 08816