Here at Terhune Orchards we are open all year round and have our own fresh produce available every day. In the early winter, the farm store is filled with our own winter squash, including butternut squash and other winter squash varieties, and green veggies, such as Brussels sprouts and kale, that will be excellent complements to your hearty, cool weather meals.
When the air becomes cold and the ground begins to freeze, we don’t stop growing crops on the farm. We move from working out in the field to being very busy in the heated greenhouses and covered high tunnel hoop houses to keep fresh, locally grown vegetables on your table year-round. For example, we grow greens all year round. Lettuce and baby greens grow in the greenhouses all winter. Tender lettuces keep the dream of spring alive.
We plant crops that don’t mind cool weather in the high tunnels in early October. As they mature, we can harvest from the tunnels all winter because the tunnels act as a natural refrigerator. The greens grown in these protected, cool spaces are more tender and often more nutrient dense, so we get amazing results. Spinach and kale grow in the hoop houses. These cold-tolerant, vitamin-packed greens actually taste sweeter after the weather turns cold.
We are the only farm in New Jersey to have controlled atmosphere (CA) storage, so we can store our apples harvested in the fall through to the next summer and still maintain their fresh taste and crispy texture. The CA storage has a low oxygen level so the apples do not ripen and get soft as quickly. (Did you know? We have solar panels covering our barn to help fuel the storage.) You can get our delicious apple taste in not only fresh apples but also apple cider, crisps, breads, and salsa during the entire winter.