On October 3, two things opened on the same day in Bernards Township. The Mayor's Fall Festival filled the Municipal Complex and Astor Fields with pumpkin races, hayrides, a corn maze, a costume exchange, cider and donuts, and a sensory-friendly hour, as TAPinto Basking Ridge reported. A few miles away in Liberty Corner, the pumpkin patch and maze at English Farm opened for the season.
Five weeks later, many of those pumpkins can go back to the same farm. On Saturday, November 7, English Farm hosts the township's sixth annual Pumpkin Smash. Residents bring their Halloween pumpkins to Valley Road, break them up, and feed the pieces to the farm's pigs and chickens. So the local pumpkin season runs as a loop, and most of the calendar in between happens on working farmland and county parkland, well outside the village center.
The Farm Behind Both Ends of the Season
English Farm sits at 3625 Valley Road in Liberty Corner. The farm calls itself family-owned since about 1730. Township Committee minutes from September 2025 describe it as settled in the 1730s and call it Bernards Township's longest continuously operating business.
The farm's long run also depends on a decision the township made in 2008. That year Bernards bought the development rights to about 81 acres of the farm, though not the farm itself, so the land is protected from future development. The family still owns and runs the farm. The public's interest is that the fields stay fields.
What grows there today is listed on the farm's own site: certified-organic vegetables, flowers and hay, along with an on-site store and seasonal events. In fall, the products page adds pumpkins, gourds and fall decorations. In warmer months the farm keeps pigs, a horse, goats and roosters.
The farm's store hours set the window for any visit:
- Thursday and Friday: noon to 4 p.m.
- Saturday and Sunday: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Monday through Wednesday: store closed
The farm asks visitors to stay in designated areas, and the property is closed to the public whenever the store is closed. A short afternoon window on a weekday and a slightly longer one on weekends make the planning easy.
What Happens on November 7
The 2026 Pumpkin Smash runs from noon to 1:30 p.m. It is free, open to all ages, and needs no registration. Two township volunteer bodies organize it together, the Agricultural Advisory Committee and the Environmental Commission, according to TAPinto Basking Ridge's October 8 announcement.
The event comes with one practical rule. Pumpkins have to be stripped of anything that won't break down, including candles, stickers and plastic decorations, because the pieces go straight to the animals. Visitors who arrive empty-handed can smash pumpkins already at the farm. Anyone who can't make the Saturday window can drop pumpkins off earlier that week during store hours.
The organizers give two reasons for the event. The pumpkins become animal feed, and keeping them out of the landfill avoids the greenhouse-gas emissions they would otherwise add.
The numbers show steady growth. TAPinto's 2023 coverage estimated that about 225 pumpkins were smashed at the 2022 event. By the 2024 coverage, the yearly total was described as more than 250. The township now says that figure is typical. It's a modest number, which fits an event that takes 90 minutes on one farm with volunteer organizers and a handful of pigs and chickens doing the eating.
The Weeks Between the Patch and the Smash
Between the October 3 openings and the November 7 Smash, the calendar keeps returning to the same kinds of places: a county stable, a preserved farm, and the Great Swamp. Here are the remaining dates in order:
- Sunday, October 25, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Somerset County Park Commission's free Stalls, Sweets & Treats at The Stable at Lord Stirling Park, 256 S. Maple Ave. It includes barn trick-or-treating, decorated horse stalls, a hay maze, and horse costume contests where visitors vote for their favorites, per TAPinto Basking Ridge.
- Thursday, October 29, 7 to 9 p.m. "Strangers Stop and Cast an Eye," listed on the township's America250 calendar with a link to the Historical Society of the Somerset Hills. The event page doesn't name a venue, so check the township calendar closer to the date.
- Saturday, November 7, noon to 1:30 p.m. The Pumpkin Smash at English Farm, 3625 Valley Road.
- Sunday, November 8. The Environmental Education Center's November program list has two naturalist walks that day. The free, hour-long Family Nature Walks go into the Great Swamp, and no pre-registration is needed. "Field & Forest" runs from 10 to 11 a.m. in Lord Stirling Park and costs $6 per student or senior and $7 per adult.
The Smash and the November 8 walks fall on back-to-back days. That gives a family a full weekend outdoors, at a working farm on Saturday and then in the Great Swamp or Lord Stirling Park on Sunday, without leaving the township.
Where the Cider Comes From
English Farm sells pumpkins and gourds, but its online listings don't include cider. For a cider stop, the nearest current options are a short drive west or south.
Melick's Oldwick Cider Mill at 19 King Street in Oldwick is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., with last entry at 5 p.m. It offers pumpkin, apple and tomato picking without reservations, plus hard cider on weekends. Its Oldwick Farm Market at 170 Oldwick Road keeps the same daily hours and sells fresh cider, cider donuts and farm produce.
To the south, Snyder's Farm at 586 South Middlebush Road in Somerset runs its pumpkin-picking Fall Festival on weekends only, through October 25, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Apple cider and cider donuts are part of the day. According to Somerset County's tourism listing, you need festival admission to reach the pumpkin field, and the pumpkins cost extra. Snyder's festival ends the same day as Stalls, Sweets & Treats, so October 25 is the last weekend for both.
Lake Road, Through the Rest of the Season
Anyone driving near the village this fall will run into the Lake Road Improvement Project. The work covers the north-side pedestrian path from South Finley Avenue to Mt. Airy Road and includes sidewalks, retaining walls, ADA ramp upgrades, and in the end a full milling and repaving.
In its October 2 project narrative, the township reported that all curbing and concrete sidewalk replacement was finished, along with the retaining walls east of Culberson Road. Stone base for the path was in place from South Finley Avenue to Vail Terrace except for one small section with a utility conflict. Crews were working west of Kinnan Way and building the last retaining wall there. The township expects several more weeks of path and wall work, then a full week of milling and paving. Lane closures will move down the street as crews go, with eastbound traffic kept open in the morning for school traffic. That schedule likely puts the paving week close to the Smash weekend, so leave a little extra time on Lake Road in early November.
Where the Season Hands Off
After the pumpkins are fed to the animals, the calendar moves back into the village. The Basking Ridge Business Alliance lists its 13th annual Winter Market and Christmas Tree Lighting for Saturday, December 5, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., at Bishop Janes United Methodist Church. It features local vendors, entertainment and Santa, per the Alliance's event page.
None of the events listed here fall between the November 8 walks and December 5. The calendar puts English Farm's store hours, Thursday through Sunday afternoons, at the end of the pumpkin season, with the Winter Market at Bishop Janes opening the next one.
For many families, a fall like this is also when bigger conversations come up about the family home, a parent's next chapter, or what the coming year might bring. If any of that is on your mind between the Smash and the Winter Market, Christine Cura is glad to talk it through calmly and on your schedule. Let's Connect.
