May 1, 2026

What’s Growing in the Garden State

What's Growing in the Garden State

By: Erin McFeeters

New Jersey is all Turnpike—said no true New Jerseyan ever. The locals of the great Garden State know New Jersey is one of the most diverse states in the U.S. From Cape May to Montague Township, there are more than 239,000 acres of preserved farmland and more than 9,880 farms, according to findjerseyfresh.com Today, New Jersey leads most of the nation in the production of asparagus, eggplant, tomatoes, cranberries, spinach, bell peppers, peaches, squash, cucumbers, blueberries, and sweet corn.

CRANBERRY JUICE MAKES WAVES IN THE GARDEN STATE

“There are two New Jerseys: the North with the Turnpike and then South Jersey, a rural environment,” said Joe Darlington, a fifth-generation cranberry farmer at Whitesbog Historic Village, a small cranberry farming village founded in 1857, located in the heart of the Pinelands, now cared for by the Whitesbog Preservation Trust.

In the early days of Darlington’s family farm, they had just 60 acres of land, and James A. Fenwick ran the show at the time. “Cranberries were just beginning to get started in New Jersey,” said Darlington. “Sailing ships needed to protect crews from scurvy and needed something high in vitamin C.”

By the early 1900s, the farm expanded to 3,000 acres, and Fenwick’s son-in-law, Joseph J. White “JJ,” took the reins. “JJ was quite the engineer,” said Darlington. “He wrote a book on how to cultivate the bog and had 12 patents by the end of his life related to cranberry farming.”

In 1947, New Jersey ranked third in the country for cranberry production and was expected to harvest 93,000 100-pound barrels, according to a New York Times article.

That year, the industry expected consumers to purchase half of the crop for making sauce and jelly, with the remainder for commercial use.

According to Jersey Fresh, New Jersey remains high in the ranking for cranberry production at number four in 2022, producing 58 million pounds of cranberries.

That same year, New Jersey Asm. Carol A. Murphy from District 7 introduced legislation, inspired by the fourth-grade classes in Cinnaminson, deeming Cranberry juice as the state beverage.

“In New Jersey, commercial cranberry farming began in 1835 in a bog in Burlington County, and New Jersey is now the third largest cranberry producing state in the United States,” states the bill. “In 1917, Elizabeth Lee of New Jersey was the first person to create cranberry sauce from the berries and later joined forces with other farmers to start the company that became known as Ocean Spray.”

THE STORY BEHIND NEW JERSEY’S STATE FRUIT: THE BLUEBERRY

JJ’s daughter (and Darlington’s great aunt), Elizabeth Coleman White, grew up spending her summers on her parents’ cranberry farm in the Pine Barrens, and, in partnership with botanist Frederick Coville, are credited with developing and domesticating the blueberry plant right here in New Jersey, according to the New Jersey State Library.

White invited Coville to come to the farm to visit and stay at Whitesbog to collaborate, according to Darlington. White and Coville experimented and bred different blueberries. Their main objective was to develop a variety that could be successfully cultivated and harvested.

“The best way to sell blueberries is to have a consistent taste,” said Darlington.

In 1916, after five years of crossing, they produced a successful crop, known as the highbush blueberry, according to Darlington. Some of which were still producing when Darlington started farming.

The Whitesbog Historic Village is now listed on the National and State Register of Historic Sites and continues to farm cranberries. Whitesbog invites visitors to discover the history of farming in the Pine Barrens and what life was like in the early days of the Garden State. Join them this spring for walks in Elizabeth Coleman White’s gardens, attend the annual Blueberry Summer Festival, attend the fall cranberry harvest, and so much more.

JERSEY TOMATO: A FRUIT OR A VEGETABLE?

We New Jerseyans count down the days until tomato harvesting season in New Jersey. Picture this: a juicy, acidic tomato sliced to perfection, adorned on toast with mayo, salt, and pepper. Besides the iconic pork roll, egg, and cheese sandwich, the tomato sandwich is the quintessential Garden State sandwich.

New Jersey’s tomato roots date back to the early 1800s, with a tale of a man by the name of Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson who ate a tomato on the steps of the Salem courthouse to prove they were edible. To celebrate the Jersey tomato lore, Salem even held an annual tomato festival up until a few years ago. Between Johnson and the Jersey Devil, New Jersey is certainly known for its folklore.

Supposedly, Johnson’s stunt helped the tomato catch on amongst commercial farms. In the 1860s, the tomato canning industry was in its heyday, with the Campbell Soup Company’s beefsteak tomato soup and beefsteak tomato ketchup filling the shelves. Campbell went on to start its tomato breeding program in Cinnaminson, according to Smithsonian Magazine. The program produced the J.T.D. tomato variety, which was named after John T. Dorrance, the innovator behind Campbell’s condensed soups, according to Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station. Soon after, Rutgers University established the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station to conduct research for New Jersey farmers. In 1934, Rutgers vegetable breeder Lyman Schermerhorn introduced the Rutgers tomato, a cross from Campbell’s J.T.D. variety and the Marglobe. Through the 20th century, 72% of all commercially grown tomatoes in the U.S. were the Rutgers tomato, according to Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station. Today, home growers continue to harvest the original variety and spin-off tomatoes such as Rutgers Select, Rutgers Hybrid F, Rutgers Hybrid VF, Rutgers California Supreme, Rutgers Improved PS, and Rutgers Space Select. In 2006, New Jersey Sen. Robert W. Singer of District 30 introduced legislation to deem the Jersey tomato as the State Vegetable of New Jersey. While technically in the fruit family, the bill references a 1893 U.S. Supreme Court decision categorizing the tomato in the same botanical family as the potato, pepper, and eggplant, ultimately defining it as a vegetable.