Sussex County Farms Can Be Organic in Pastel Colors

A new trend in Weekend Escapes is to visit Sussex County’s tent and table outdoor farmer's markets where people feel it is easy to shop with COVID-19 NJ rules in place. These outdoor markets offer super fresh choices. However, on the weekday some rural farming roads have pop up roadside stands next to traditional farms that have adopted organic farming. They are places where eggs, honey and fresh produce are only a few yards away from where it is raised.

The roadside stand at Wesselhof Farm on Sunset Inn Road in Lafayette, sells an incredibly unique carton of eggs – they are in mixed colors including blue that equals the pastel palette found in an Easter egg basket. How do they do this? These color combinations come from different breeds of hens that produce these pastel colored eggs.

Rural Sussex County chicken farmers have adopted the Araucana, a very popular exotic chicken breed to their coops. The Araucana chicken originates from Chile and are known to lay pale-blue eggs. A single gene, called callee oocyan, is responsible for the unusual color of these blue chicken eggs – not food dye. This really is a rare find for chicken eggs since most of them are either white or brown.

This Summer do your homework and take advantage of these rural roadside stands that are open for a short time based on crops that are ready for picking. If rainy days are keeping you away from roadside stands, you can still find this great produce at special indoor produce markets. The organic produce of Wesselhof Farm in Lafayette, NJ makes deliveries to places such as the Green Life Market in Andover 238 Newton Sparta Rd Newton. They only sell local stuff that is organic.

Sussex County has approximately 115,127 acres of land that is “actively devoted to agriculture” as defined by the Farmland Assessment Act. It is time to break out your Sussex County road map. Follow your favorite farm produce from roadside stand to marketplace. Add some joyous adventure to life through farm to table food shopping that includes a dozen pastel colored eggs.