Giamarese Named Vegetable Grower of the Year

For years, Giamarese Farms on Fresh Ponds Road has been one of the area’s “go to” places for pumpkins, Christmas trees, and fresh fruits and vegetables.

On Wednesday, the farm’s owners, Jim and Sue, were honored at the 2012 Vegetable Growers of New Jersey and State Agricultural Convention dinner with the Vegetable Grower of the Year award.

"Sue and I greatly appreciate winning the Vegetable Grower of the Year Award," said Jim Giamarese. "The Good Lord blessed us with nice customers, to work with a lot of great people and get to a lot done. It is very rewarding. Thank you."

The pair farm roughly 130 acres in East Brunswick, and were among the first in Middlesex County to market a “Pick Your Own” farm with a retail market. The farm also runs tours for schools and organizations throughout the season.

According to a press release from the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Middlesex County, "Jim provides leadership on the Middlesex County Board of Agriculture and has been a member of the New Jersey Ag Society Board of Trustees for 20 years, serving as president from 2006 to 2008. Jim and Sue have been involved with Farmers Against Hunger for 18 years contributing to the program by offering their farm for gleanings each year. In 2003, the Giamarese’s 30-acre home farm entered the New Jersey Farmland Preservation Program. Jim received the National Outstanding Young Farmer of the Year award in 1989 and was the Middlesex County Farmer of the Year in 2010."   

Other Middlesex County farmers recognized Wednesday were William V. Griffin and John Hauser.

Griffin, of W.V. Griffin Nurseries on Fresh Ponds Road in South Brunswick received the Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award from the State Board of Agriculture. He is a second generation nurseryman and Christmas tree grower who grew up working at his family nursery, eventually attending Louisiana State for Landscape Architecture.  Always involved in Agricultural leadership, Bill has been on the Middlesex County Board of Agriculture’s Executive Committee since 1973 and has held the posts of Treasurer, Vice President and currently serves as President.

On a state level, Griffin has kept active in the business of Agriculture, serving on the New Jersey Nursery & Landscape Association’s Board of Directors from 1995 to 1997, as well as on the NJ Agricultural Experiment Station’s Board of Managers from 1992 – 1997.  More recently he served as president of the State Board of Agriculture.

Hauser, of Hauser Hill Farms in Old Bridge, received the Fruit Grower of the Year from the State Horticultural Society. John represents the fourth generation of Hauser farmers who have tended the same ground in Old Bridge for more than 125 years. He is the president of Hauser Hill farms, selling fruits and vegetables, at his farm stand on Ticetown Road.

Since his 1974 graduation from Delaware Valley College, John has dedicated himself to the stewardship of the land and making his community a better place. John has been president of the Middlesex County Board of Agriculture, Delegate to the New Jersey Farm Bureau, a member of the Middlesex County Fair Association Board of Trustees and Vice President of the New Jersey State Horticultural Society. In 2009, John received the NJ Vegetable Grower of the Year award. John was also awarded the Business Leader of the Year by the Old Bridge, Sayreville and South Amboy Chamber of Commerce in 2004 and selected as the 2001 Farmer of the Year by the Middlesex County Fair Committee.

Hauser Hill Farms, Ticetown Road, Old Bridge encompasses 300 acres of land. John and wife Carolyn go beyond the farm's roadside stand to bring produce to several markets per week.

—Middlesex County Cooperative Extension