Dear EscapeMakers - This holiday season, express your values by giving gifts grown in the earth beneath your feet, on the farms of Central Jersey. Check out this month's guest blog post by Brad Fay of Discover Central NJ for ideas!

Only 1 hour away from New York City, Central Jersey offers some cozy farms and farm-to-table restaurants, and unique breweries, historic sites, recreation areas, cultural destinations and farm stores!

Numerous farms and wineries welcome you to their on-premise stores, while also offering the option to order online for direct shipping to your or your loved one. They include:

   •      Bobolink Dairy & Bakehouse, an organic farm in Milford, NJ can ship its award-winning cheeses, gift baskets, and even bacon, sausage, and charcuterie, usually frozen and packed in dry ice, to any destination nationwide!

 •        Cherry Grove Farm, operating sustainably in Lawrence, NJ offers gift boxes of local organic cheeses and gift baskets of artisan foods available for online purchase and shipment.

 •    Hidden Spring Lavender Farm in Skillman, NJ is open weekends and online shopping anytime offers a wide variety of holiday gift options made with lavender, including plush animals, lotions, fragrances, and products made from the wool of its adorable alpacas.

 •          Hopewell Valley Vineyards, and award-winning winery in Pennington, NJ has an online store with the ability to ship wines in New Jersey and to a limited number of other states. Hopewell Valley brings Old World wine making methods to New Jersey.

 •          Old York Cellars is ready for the holidays, with a winery in Ringoes, NJ plus retail locations in two central Jersey malls, as well as its online store. They now offer an answer to the young French Beaujolais with a 2019 “Beau Jersey” (rhymes with Cabernet!)

 •       Terhune Orchards and Winery near Princeton, NJ offers an enormous variety of gift baskets and boxes, plus gift wine shipments to many locations. Their “Taste of Jersey” baskets include farm fresh apples, Terhune made fruit bread, cookies, shortbread cookies, New Jersey pasta, honey, organic popcorn, and locally made chocolates.

 •      Unionville Vineyards in Ringoes, NJ offer a beautiful tasting room on site, as well as mail order purchases. They have been named one of America’s top wineries by Food & Wine Magazine, and New Jersey’s top artisan beverage maker in 2018 by Edible Jersey.

While you explore the region, stock up on homemade pies, wines and spirits and gift baskets to bring to your hosts -- like those from Terhune Orchards! Also, Suydam Farms offers cut your own, pre-cut and a special "Charlie Brown" selection of trees. Visit for wagon rides, hot apple cider and toasting marshmallows to get into the holiday spirit!