By: | April 23, 2024 | Features | Colts Neck
By Rebecca King
What’s a Christmas tree farm to do when it’s not December? When the rush of the holidays is over and 11 long months of glacial tree growth stretches out before the next season’s trees are ready to be chopped, mounted, and decked out in family homes throughout New Jersey?
For The Fir Farm — a Colts Neck, New Jersey institution for over 40 years — there are hops to grow, bees to keep, and honey to jar. Brothers Bob and Mickey Clark, two long-time New Jersey residents who have been overseeing the farm for the past 20 years, have turned it into a year-round operation through its hops and bee-keeping programs.
Hops To It
The Clarks started growing hops, the cone-shaped flowers that brewers use to achieve flavor and bitterness in beer, in 2015 – just around the onset of the craft beer boom in New Jersey.
“We’ve always been big fans of craft beer, and we got interested in the process of brewing when craft breweries started opening in New Jersey,” said Bob.
The Fir Farm is one of the largest hops farms in New Jersey, said Bob, and has provided hops to more than 20 breweries and distilleries to make both beer and spirits. If you’ve ever had a drink from breweries such as Toms River Brewing, Jersey Cyclone, Alternate Ending, Departed Soles, Ship Bottom Brewery or 3BR Distillery, you may just have had a taste of the fresh hops grown at The Fir Farm. The Bent Spoon, a beloved ice cream shop in Princeton, has also used the farm’s hops for the past three years to make hops sorbets.
“We dove in and worked hard to expand and get more kinds of hops in,” said Bob. The farm now grows hops varieties, including Cascade, Chinook, Tahoma, Comet and Southern Cross – all of which have their own unique flavor profiles.
The benefits of using fresh, or “wet” hops, are manifold, said Mickey. The majority of hops breweries use are processed and pelletized. But using fresh hops harkens back to the old days of brewing, “when you could pick the hops fresh off of the bine,” said Mickey. “It just provides an incredible aroma and flavor.”
It’s the difference, added Bob, between a chef getting basil from a grocery store and picking it fresh from their garden.
To get an in-depth look at how the hops are grown and harvested, folks can head to The Fir Farm’s Hops Harvest Festival, the state’s only agrotourism event, which takes place every August. The festival allows community members to pick hops, meet brewers, listen to live music and chow down on barbecue.
The Sweet Life
Beekeeping is another way the Clark brothers keep busy during the off-season. They were introduced to the benefits of beekeeping, Bob said, at many agricultural meetings they attended.
The Clarks agree that beekeeping has been incredibly rewarding. With a few years of raising bees under their belts, they now have dozens of hives and enough honey to bottle and sell at the farm, in local stores and at festivals.
“We love explaining why our honey is all different shades,” said Bob. “Whatever our bees make, we bottle, so it’s always 100% raw, unfiltered, and never heated.”
Last year, their honey won major awards at the 12th annual Black Jar International Honey Tasting Competition (so named because the jars are cloaked in black fabric so the honey is judged blind) in Asheville, North Carolina. The Fir Farm’s honey took home second place in the North American Dark Honey category. The competition is the largest international honey-tasting competition in the world, and out of the 14 honeys recognized from North America, The Fir Farm’s was the only from New Jersey.
You can find Fir Farm honey at the Colts Neck General Store, Colts Neck Pharmacy and the Food Emporium in Marlboro, New Jersey. And the ample honey harvest isn’t the only benefit the bees bring to the farm. The Clarks say they’ve seen the flora on the farm flourish thanks to the colonizing power of the bees.
“We have a lot of wild things on the farm,” said Mickey. “We grow elderberries and cider apples. We have a wild pear tree and wild berries on the farm. Since we started beekeeping, that growth has gone through the roof. There are berries everywhere!”
Community Pride
The Clarks take pride in the quality of everything they produce on the farm – from the hops to the fir trees. They never spray any herbicides, which means healthy trees, chemical-free hops, and honey from bees fed by free-growing wildflowers. It also means a lot of work for the Clarks. There are no shortcuts in organic farming.
“So much of our work is pulling weeds by hand,” said Bob. But, it’s worth it, he attests. “I can’t imagine spraying all those chemicals.”
Their dedication to producing high-quality products for their customers is rooted in a commitment to their community. The Clarks want people in Monmouth County and beyond to feel welcome and comfortable at The Fir Farm (and know they’re getting a quality product).
Trees for Troops – a program run by the Christmas Spirit Foundation in which people can purchase a Christmas tree to be donated to a military family – is one such way The Fir Farm gives back to its community. The Clarks have participated in the program for more than 10 years in honor of their father, who served in the military during World War II. Over the years, they’ve seen a steady increase in the amount of trees donated. In 2023, community members donated 410 trees, up from 303 trees in 2022.
Whether customers choose to donate or not, they can always pick up a Christmas tree for their home or a beautiful hand-made wreath during the holiday season. Plus, the Clarks make sure to offer to take photos of every family with their chosen tree in front of the farm’s little red barn. Small touches like this, say the Clarks, keep them connected to their community.
But until this year’s holiday season, the Clarks have plenty to keep them busy. Along with their other endeavors, they’ve also made a start on the difficult job of growing Harrison apple trees and have even planted their own mini vineyard. In the future, they hope to be able to use their hops to make their own craft beer. They dream of folks stopping by the farm to sit among the natural beauty and enjoy a few pints.
“We basically live in the fields, and we love what we do,” said Bob. “Farming is the most intense job, but it’s so rewarding. No matter what happens, you’re always back at it in the fields the next day.”
The Fir Farm is located at 166 Hillsdale Road in Colts Neck, across the street from 4JG's Winery.
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