At Madison Farmers Market, Vacchiano Means Variety

When it comes to farming, the Vacchiano family is at the mercy of two forces: Mother Nature and type of soil on their land.

Fortunately, the gods of vegetation have been kind to the family and they are able to grow a variety of fruits and vegetables on 100 acres of farmland in Washington Township.

"There are some things that are suitable to our site," said Anthony Vacchiano, who runs the farm with his mother Lucia, father Tony, wife Liz and five children. "We have a real heavy, clay rock. You can grow a lot of greens in it, but we are suited more for vines like tomatoes, squash and eggplant. It's not what you want to grow, it's what you can grow!"

At the Farmers Market, Vacchiano's displays brilliant locally-grown fruits and vegetables such as leafy greens, eggplant, green beans, squash and a plethora of large, ripe tomatoes, to name a few items under their tents.

The market runs from 2-7 p.m. along Waverly Place today and every Thursday throughout the summer.

The Vacchiano family is a local grower that makes its living selling exclusively at farmers markets, which allows them to keep the produce as fresh as possible. While all local and farm fresh, Vacchiano's farm is not certified organic but uses a Rutgers University program for integrated pest management. 

"They send someone out and look through our fields to see what pests and what fungus we have and then we just spray for that issue," Athony said.

After 20 years of selling on the farmers market circuit, the family has learned how to diversify its offerings while maintaining locally grown quality.

For example, the family sells its own tomato sauce, chicken pot pies and other baked goods. And unlike most plant-growing farms, the Vacchiano family sells beef and poultry from livestock it raises on its farm. They raise around 40 head of Black Angus and 10,000 chickens every year.

Anthony's father, Tony, was a butcher at Espositos (in East Hanover) for 50 years. "Because he was a butcher we keep cows and lambs, chickens and turkeys — even rabbits," Liz Vacchiano said.

And then there's the real kicker: Vacchiano's farm is a New Jersey vintner and sells white and red table wines from its 15 acres of wine grapes. 

"Our farm is on a slope and it's southwest facing, so it's great for growing wine grapes," Anthony Vacchiano said.  

The commercial winery license, however, has been both a blessing and a curse.

"They want take our licenses away from us," Vacchiano said. "These big companies in Newark who buy from California, Chile and Europe, they don't want us competing with them. They make a million gallons a month. Maybe all the wineries in New Jersey would make a million gallons a year."

Until the Vacchiano winery matures, one thing is for certain: the family will strive to offer its farmers market customers the best locally-grown and sourced foods that New Jersey has to offer.

"We have relationships with others farmers so it's all Jersey Fresh from the state," Liz Vacchiano said, and added, "Have you tried our blueberry muffins?"