Cranbury Brook Farm

ABOUT MY FAMILY FARM
Cranbury Brook Farm
is a PRIVATE farm.
NOT open to the public

(By Appointment ONLY)

Many thanks to artist Rob MacInnis for this wonderful photo! http://www.robmacinnis.com/

How it all began ...

Little did I realize, when we bought our farm here on Federal Road, that my Father’s Grandfather had lived on this very same road back in the early 1900’s, raising cattle to sell at the local market in Englishtown, NJ. I guess you could say “it runs in the family”. You see, my Mother’s Mother also had a little farm here in Monroe when she arrived in the United States back in 1900.

So, when we decided it was time for us to expound on our dream and have a farm of our own, we found our "oasis" right here on Federal Road - grass had never been mowed and weeds were 3' tall, house was rented by a band, and it was in great disrepair. Housing market was hot, yet after being for sale for two years, folks walked away seeing all the work that was necessary to make this house a home. We, on the other hand, saw a diamond in the rough. We hand-wrote a letter to the owner, telling her of my family’s history in Monroe, of our dream to transform this house into a lovely little ranch/farm, and to be self-sufficient as my Grandparents, and Great-Grandparents did. And so our story began, and Cranbury Brook Farm was born. Since that time, we were fortunate to be able to purchase additional land to now have a 10 acre, self-sufficient and manageable farm.

We started with 3 little goats – Daphne, Zoe, and Daisy. Began building a small pen, then pastures, then horses, chickens, ducks, rabbits, pig, barn, and we were growing in leaps and bounds. Our dreams had been realized. Then, in 2008, things took a drastic and unexpected change. Greg was diagnosed with HOCM (hypertrophic obstructive cardio myopathy) – it was open heart surgery (septal myectomy) or a heart transplant. We chose the myectomy and Greg was immediately scheduled at Johns Hopkins by one of their top surgeons, who does 10 of these surgeries per year as this is a very unique and difficult surgery. It took two weeks before Greg’s heart restarted, and only 2 chambers functioned – he was then pacemaker dependent and had a defibrillator; he also lost a lung in the process. At the same time, he was battling many other health issues, as he is also a disabled war Veteran who was in the first Iraq war - Greg's whole life was being a soldier and a leader. Shortly thereafter, two of our sons were also hospitalized with different, but serious, illnesses. It took it’s toll on our family, but we became stronger - especially Mom, the caregiver. We thought about leaving our dream, but realized that our animals, gardens, and our farm were our therapy. Sitting out there in the fields, reaping the fruits and vegetables of our gardens, watching others come here and enjoy our farm as much as we did – priceless.

After things settled down a bit and we got back on track, Greg began having back pain - the diagnosis was pancreatic cancer. It was an almost two year battle, a very difficult time for our whole family to endure ... Greg - who was a warm and loving Father and Husband, passed away in June of 2017 here at home on the farm that he loved (his wish), and was surrounded with love with his wife, children, and grandchildren by his side ...

We have 8 children between us. Five children were raised here on the farm – ages now 44 down to 27. We were also blessed with plenty of grandchildren to share our love of the land, and our animals.

So you see, my family is now 5th generation here in Monroe – I’ve seen this community change from nothing but farmland to now double-laned roads with mini-malls on every corner. Our farm is now like an island in the middle of suburbia. When folks visit, they cannot believe how different it feels when they drive down the lane and stand by the barns.

Our farm was featured on Discovery Channel’s Animal Planet, Too Cute – our Coton DeTulear’s were the main stars, but all our farm animals were included, especially little Pipsqueek, our miniature pygmy goat who was raised in the house with our Coton puppies. We also did a TV commercial spot for Food Network’s Chopped and Hyundai, which also featured our farm. We also have been visited by many photographers, using our farm setting, and our animals, for their works. One, whom we are very excited to share, we will be posting shortly as it's still in the works but almost complete! We are also well-known in our community, and have volunteered our farm to the Rutgers Museum of Agriculture summer camp program for years until they lost their funding, and are always willing to share our knowledge and love of animals, self-sufficiency, and gardening.

I believe in caring for our animals with excellent management skills, quality feed and hay, and most of all, love. I’ve taken in many animals as “rescues” (and still do from time to time) – animals folks could no longer care for, and had to place. Most are kept here, and others we hold until we find that “perfect home”. Please note, however, that we are a private farm - not open to the public. We open at times to sell some of our goats, and other livestock.

You can still contact me regarding boarding horses (self-care only now), our chickens or eggs, or even my bottle-fed goats that I often sell for pets, and I also sell goats for meat, milking, and weed control.
I am currently working on raising livestock for individuals (chickens, ducks, sheep, goats) - I will not be doing the butchering here, but there is another local facility who offers this service.

To contact me, please email me at NewJerseyFarmer@aol.com ... please use my email to contact me.
We are NOT OPEN TO THE PUBLIC; We are NOT a park!
Thank you for your patience!

Birthday and Farm Parties, Pony Rides, and Farm Visits - things we've done in the past!

Cody was our farm mascot, loved by everyone! Unfortunately, he went to Rainbow Bridge in March of 2018 ...