Giamarese Farm & Orchards in East Brunswick charges $3 a person to pick on a Tuesday. On Saturday the same field costs $15 a person. Von Thun's in South Brunswick now says online tickets are required in October to guarantee entry to its weekend festival. In Monroe, Red Wagon Farm takes cash at the gate and nothing else.
None of these farms is hard to reach from anywhere in the county. What changed for fall 2026 is that the day of the week now decides the outing. Weekdays get you a quiet, inexpensive pick-your-own trip. Weekends get you a festival with admission, crowds and closing rules. The county's one free harvest event runs Friday through Sunday on two back-to-back weekends. Agriculture here is bigger than many people assume. Middlesex County counts more than 100 full- and part-time farmers working more than 19,000 acres, all part of a $35 million agricultural industry. So it pays to know which version of the farm you're driving to.
Giamarese shows the split most clearly
Giamarese has farmed its land on Fresh Ponds Road since 1941, and it sits on more than 75 acres. New this year, it sells weekends as one bundled price. The $15 admission covers parking, a picking pass for apples, pumpkins and vegetables, unlimited hayride tours, unlimited corn maze runs, and either two sunflowers or one sugar pumpkin. The farm values that last item at $4.99. Anything you pick is still paid for separately.
Tuesday through Friday, if you just want to pick, admission drops to $3 a person. Children 3 feet tall and under get in free on both schedules. Pick-your-own runs 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends. The farm market stays open Tuesday through Sunday until 6 p.m. On weekends the gate stops admitting people at 4 p.m. even though the farm closes at 6, so a late-afternoon plan has to start early.
This is a recent change. In a September 9 report, MyCentralJersey listed Giamarese's pick-your-own admission as $3 a person Tuesday through Sunday. The farm's own pages now separate the two. If you visited last month and remember the lower weekend price, that's why.
Von Thun's puts October weekends behind a ticket
At Von Thun's, 519 Ridge Road in South Brunswick, the split is sharper. The Fall Festival runs Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., plus select weekdays marked on the farm's calendar. The season ends November 8, and last entry is 4 p.m. Admission covers more than 30 activities, the Dogs & Dinos corn maze, hayrides and barnyard animals. TAPinto reports that the corn cannons, apple blasters and paintball cost extra, and that the South Brunswick farm also hosts Moonlight Maze dates.
The ticket rules matter most in October. Online tickets are required this month to guarantee entry. Tickets bought at the farm cost $3 more than the online price. Online tickets are nonrefundable, though you can change the date. Children under 3 are free, and pets other than ADA service animals aren't allowed on the farm.
On weekdays the farm is a different place. This October you can walk the maze on weekdays only, from 1 to 5 p.m., for $9.99 a person. This year's Dinos & Dogs design starts with a shorter, accessible section. The second section covers close to five acres, so a weekday visitor can turn back early or keep going. In September, Von Thun's said its apple fields were open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a $3 entry fee, as long as the crop lasted.
The apple crop makes weekdays worth more
That phrase "as long as the crop lasts" is why timing matters more this year. In early May, Rutgers fruit specialists reported freeze damage to blossoms and young fruit across New Jersey. They described apple yield potential as "extremely low across most orchards." NJ.com described the cold snap as a four-day freeze in April.
The two Middlesex orchards felt it differently. "We lost 90% of the crop," Giamarese manager Tara Dillon told MyCentralJersey in September. At that point the farm was offering a "very limited supply" of Honey Crisp, Molly Delicious, Gala and Cortland at $2.99 a pound. The farm's homepage now reports "an adequate supply" of Honey Crisp, Gala, Fuji and Macintosh. It also asks visitors to call ahead, because pick-your-own availability can change daily. Tim Von Thun called his farm's harvest "definitely a light crop" and said, "We do expect it to be a shorter season than usual." In South Brunswick he listed Golden Delicious, Mutsu, Gala and Fuji, plus newer trees just starting to bear Ambrosia, Crimson Crisp and Autumn Crisp.
A short crop and weekend crowds add up in a predictable way. Weekend visitors pick from the same limited trees. A Tuesday trip costs less to get in and comes before Saturday's crowd has been through the rows. Either way, call before you go. That's what both farms ask.
Monroe's two farms keep their own hours
Monroe Township has the two farms built most around the festival experience, and each runs on a schedule that doesn't line up with the others.
- Red Wagon Farm, 136 Applegarth Road. Open Thursday through Sunday, plus Columbus Day, through Halloween, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. A 2026 NJ Mom roundup lists this season as September 26 through October 31. Admission is $21 for children and adults, and infants under 1 get in free. It includes 25 activities, from the corn maze and hayrides to the pedal tractors the farm is calling new for 2026. You pay in person, in cash, with no refunds. There's also a no-admission area if you only want to buy pumpkins. Leashed, friendly dogs are welcome, and the farm posts closures on Instagram.
- Etsch Farms. The 8-acre corn maze opened September 19 and runs Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 6 p.m. A $20 wristband for ages 3 and up covers the maze, a hayride and the corn train, and children 2 and under are free. This year's addition is a GPS-interactive map that runs in your phone's browser for finding your way and playing maze games. The farm also offers pumpkin picking, animals, cider donuts and slushies.
Columbus Day falls on Monday, October 12 this year. That makes Red Wagon the easy pick for a long-weekend Monday, and it's open Thursdays and Fridays when the weekend-only mazes are quiet. Etsch opens at noon, so it suits a later start than Giamarese, which stops admitting weekend visitors at 4 p.m.
The free weekend is run by the county
Middlesex County's Fall Harvest Festival is the one event that costs nothing at the gate. It runs October 16 to 18 and October 23 to 25, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, at East Jersey Old Town Village, 1050 River Road in Piscataway. Accessible wagon rides take visitors out to the village's field for pumpkin picking. The Sawmill Run Old Time String Band plays, and Beastro handles the food, with its Signature Drippings for sale. A product tent sells pies, cider donuts, pickles, salsa and preserves. Musket demonstrations are scheduled for 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Stark Press prints harvest-themed tote bags on the second weekend only. Rutgers Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners staff a table with gardening tips and information on farm markets across the county.
Because the festival starts on Fridays, October 16 and 23 are the lower-key days to go. The county's RIDE shuttle offers free, accessible, on-demand trips between the village and the Cornelius Low House, so one parking spot covers both historic sites.
After dark, the Middlesex County 4-H Youth Development Program runs its Haunted House and Hayride every Friday and Saturday through October 31, from 7 to 10:30 p.m., at the Middlesex County 4-H Youth Center.
How the rest of October lines up
With today being Sunday, October 4, here's how the remaining days sort by what's open:
- Tuesday and Wednesday: Giamarese pick-your-own at $3 a person, and the Von Thun's maze walk at $9.99 from 1 to 5 p.m.
- Thursday: All of the above, plus Red Wagon.
- Friday: All of the above, the county festival on October 16 and 23, and the 4-H Haunted House and Hayride at night.
- Saturday: Giamarese's $15 bundle, the ticketed Von Thun's festival, Red Wagon, Etsch from noon, the county festival on October 17 and 24, and the 4-H event at night.
- Sunday: The same daytime lineup, minus the 4-H evening.
- Monday, October 12: Red Wagon's Columbus Day opening.
To see more farms, the county's Grown in Middlesex County Interactive Map lists farmers markets, U-Pick farms and Christmas tree farms, with addresses and phone numbers.
Planning your fall around Giamarese, Von Thun's or Old Town Village is part of what it means to know Middlesex County day to day. That kind of local knowledge also shapes how Beth Harding helps clients decide which town and which street suit how they want to spend their weekends. If you're weighing a move within the county or nearby, schedule your free consultation.
