Our Story
Welcome to Tranquillity Farms
Where Quality Comes From Tradition
Tranquillity Farms, located in Allamuchy, NJ, is home to a diverse third- generation, family-run agriculture business. Set on 600 acres and farming 800 total acres, the farm prides itself on its vegetables and continual expansion of crops, homemade ice cream, and beautiful Farm Market.
We are keeping farming in New Jersey and supplying our customers with fresh, local produce!
A Letter From The Owner, Larry Freeborn
A Letter From The Owner, Larry Freeborn
“ We started business in 1989 with a few cows and a tractor on a rented farm in Newton. From there, we grew the herd to about 120 head of dairy cows within the 9 years we were there. We farmed around 300 acres and slowly put together a line of equipment. This is where we started our first self-serve vegetable stand and took a liking to the vegetable business.
We moved back to Tranquillity Farms in 1998, a farm my father had rented since 1950. Tranquillity Farms was originally owned by Peter Stuyvesant in the late 1600’s. They used the farm to raise game and host hunts for aristocrats, such as Theodore Roosevelt. They also owned a large flock of prize winning sheep and a small dairy herd. A majority of the land on the south side of route 517 was sold to the state of New Jersey in the 1970’s and became part of Allamuchy State Park. When I moved back to the farm in 1998 we bought some of my father’s herd and equipment in his sale and expanded the herd over the next couple of years to around 300 head. With this, we slowly added equipment as we were farming more acreage.
In 1999 we were able to buy Tranquillity Farms, as it was for sale at the time when the owners sold the development rights to the state and had it preserved, and we bought it for the Farmland value. We started building our produce stand at its old location in the year 2000 and slowly added greenhouses. This was going to be a part of our business that showed the most growth in years ahead, leading us to expand our farm market and our goods at our new location. We also began making our own homemade ice cream with a variety of flavors four years ago, which is now served at our ice cream window. Around 2008 we started a wholesale produce business and started delivering to several Shop Rite stores. This has grown to the point that this year we will be supplying around 28 stores. We currently farm around 850 acres, 310 of which are owned. We grow approximately 140 acres of sweetcorn, 170 acres of pumpkins, 25 acres of green beans, 50+ acres of other mixed vegetables on plastic with drip irrigation, 220 acres of field corn, 165 acres of soybeans and around 40 acres of alfalfa and 40 of grass hay.
I am fortunate enough to have my four children heavily involved with the business, which is a blessing to me and has allowed us to expand in so many different directions. We look forward to growing even more in the future, starting with the addition of our new U-pick apple orchard. Farming in New Jersey presents its own set of problems, with higher taxes cost for services and land availability, but it also presents us with many opportunities and a population base that appreciates locally produced products and strong farming traditions. None of this would be possible without the support of our community and we are deeply grateful for that. We look forward to continuing to grow our family business on Tranquillity Farms for years to come!”