April Recap

Published April 28, 2024

I visited Amsterdam before the pandemic, but went in the off-season, so I missed seeing their tulip fields in person. I visited their floating flower market for dried flowers and tulip bulbs, it wasn’t the same as visiting fields of fresh tulips.

Thus, when I had vacation time this April, I saw the opening season for U-Pick Tulips at the Holland Ridge Farm, right here in New Jersey! They offered fields of self-pick tulips and I knew that I had to visit for my April highlight. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to see thousands of tulips without flying to another country to enjoy them.

 

The Holland Ridge Farm

A direct drive along the parkway and major highways transitioned into residential backroads with open flat fields and farmhouses.

I was expecting to follow signs to Holland Ridge like I’ve seen when apple picking at Masker Orchard. Instead, my GPS clearly led the way to the fenced-in farm and a bumpy ride along a long dirt road brought me to a field for parking.

Tickets to the Holland Ridge Farm

You have to purchase tickets online in advance before arriving to the farm. You reserve a time slot for your visit and you can present a digital QR code which is scanned before entering the fields.

Since I was on vacation, I booked the weekday ticket. The weekday ticket was cheaper and offered half-price stems ($0.50 each). Visitors still had hayrides, access to food trucks, and other photo backgrounds. Weekday visits did not have access to pony rides, the bakery, or live music.

U-Pick Tulips in New Jersey

After scanning my ticket and crossing through the barn, visitors are greeted by a giant painted bulb and wooden clogs for photo ops.

A wooden pallet of plastic black buckets sat outside the fence for the tulip fields. Visitors who are picking tulips should claim a bucket — though I saw others who carried wicker baskets — for carrying their flowers.

No shears or cutters are needed for picking the flowers. Luckily, my sister visited this flower farm last year and told me it was easy to twist the stem without removing the bulb from the ground.

When is the best time to visit the tulip farm?

I visited Holland Ridge Farms the first week for U-Pick Tulips (what they call the “Spring Spectacular” event).

According to their website, Opening Day is best for picking (since the tulips are still closed). As the season goes on and the flowers open, visitors will enjoy more colorful fields (which is great for photos) and longer stemmed flowers (though they won’t last as long as the closed tulips).

Holland Ridge Farm Tulip Fields

The first rows of tulips were green and closed, prompting visitors to the first rows of classic red tulips.

Many visitors walked the dirt paths between the tulip rows. A trio of elderly women already had their plastic buckets filled with red tulips and they hadn’t even made it that far into the fields!

Hot pink and light pink tulips were the next closest rows of tulips. Now that I was a few rows into the field, it was impressive to see just how many bulbs had been planted to get the density of color in each row.

I wanted to be intentional with the flowers I selected. Once you’re in the field, it’s easy to pick-pick-pick and not realize how many stems you have in your large plastic bucket. I selected closed tulips, with the hope that they would live longer once I got them home.

Stroopwafel and Photo Ops

Following the main dirt path where the grass had been worn away, the tulips transitioned into white and light pink colors. Wooden picnic benches sat alongside these rows. Behind that, a pink stand sold stroopwafel.

Three neon colored archways with flowers housed scenes for photo ops. Parents with toddlers swarmed the area, corralling their children to sit still long enough for individual and family photos.

I passed them and moved away from the flowers closest to the main walking path. The fields were 2-3 rows deep with wide paths in between them. There were fewer people wandering the second and third rows — closest to the outer edges of the farm, so I elected to go out into those rows of flowers instead.

Foxtrot Tulips

The Holland Ridge Farms offered more than just U-pick tulips. Their flower fields contained lilies, peonies, and dahlias, to name a few.

These flowers looked like peonies and I picked several of them. It turns out they are called “Foxtrot Tulips!”

As you can see, the flowers bloomed at various stages, which I found to be helpful. The bloomed flowers allowed me to preview the type of flower and its color, but I ended up picking the closed buds for my plastic bucket.

Yellow Striped Tulips

The yellow striped tulips were fully opened and were the most vibrant! I tried to pluck through those rows to find at least one unopened tulip to add to my bucket. Many people stopped among these rows to take photos.

Peony Tulips

I wanted to get the official name for the violet flowers I picked, and according to Google, these are a hybrid flower called peony tulips, which are fuller and have more petals than normal tulips.

Most people ignored these rows of flowers. I thought they were perfect — I loved their color, petal texture, and size. Plus, I picked a number of them since most of them were still closed.

Yellow Tulips

The violet peony tulips did not have many rows and they sat closely to the yellow tulips.

I thought the yellow tulips were just as pretty as the classic red tulips, though the red tulips had at least double the amount of rows available to pick from. The red rows on this side also had a yellow-y white tulip

The farm employees drove through dirt clouds on golf carts. The hay ride carried passengers to several stops throughout the fields on the perimeter of the farm. Besides a trio of girls with their mother taking photos on the ground in the red tulips, I was basically alone on this side of the field, which was nice when it came to taking photos. I didn’t feel like I was in anyone’s way.

I continued down the left-hand side of the field. By now, the stroopwafel stand and photo op area was a spec in the distance. I wanted to see the fields of dahlias, so I continued in search of them.

The next set of rows were a mix of yellow lilies and tulips of all colors.

Most people picked the bright yellow lilies. I knew that a lily that was already that open wouldn’t last for long. I picked one that was closed without any color showing.

Yellow Peony Tulips

Of all of the peony tulips, the yellow ones were my favorite. Many rows of them were fully bloomed and framing the classic red tulips. They reminded me of a peony and a carnation. I loved how full and fluffy their petals were.

Food Truck and Picnic Area

By now it was the middle of the afternoon on the unusual 75-degree day. The farm does not have any shaded areas so walking, picking flowers, and sitting at any of the picnic benches is in full sun.

I claimed one of the many picnic benches closest to the left-hand side of the field. I brought a water bottle and a snack and enjoyed it while looking out at the flowers. A helicopter sat on an angle nearby and photographers and kids took photos in front of it.

There were 3-4 open food trucks selling pizza and such, but I opted to avoid the lines and stop for food on the drive home.

I spent 2 hours wandering the fields, and even though there were even more rows of flowers beyond the helicopter — perhaps the missing dahlias I was searching for — I opted to start the walk back to the entrance.

Moving back onto the main path, I passed parents with strollers, groups of teenagers, and couples walking along the path. Luckily, the path was dry, but I know the weekend before a rainstorm turned the fields into mud. I recommend visitors wear shoes that are comfortable and they don’t mind getting dirty. Plus, take into account weather a few days beforehand, as that may impact your experience.

White and Red Tulips

The most unique tulips I saw were on my walk back. I couldn’t tell if they were the peony tulips or just normal tulips, but they were bright and vibrant.

Even more people arrived for the afternoon, and I was glad that I booked a ticket for mid-morning to avoid the crowds.

Before I entered the barn to pay, I captured a photo of one of the other photo backdrops which I thought was cute.

Paying for U-Pick Flowers

To exit, you enter through the other door of the barn and bring your bucket to one of the wooden tables where the stems are counted. Your flowers are placed into a plastic bag and the total number of flowers are written on the bag in Sharpie.

Then, at the cash register, your stems are charged the price for the day. My bouquet turned out to be $13.00, which is a steal for the experience and the fact that the flowers are fresh.

I packed a water bottle and paper towels in my car. I drenched the paper towels and wrapped them around the bottom of my flower steps before placing them back in the flower bag. This was to ensure the flowers don’t wilt on my drive home. I also kept them in my car (and not the trunk) so the AC would keep them cool.

Once home, I cut the stems and arranged 6 different bouquets! Here are two of them:

Surprisingly, my flowers lived for several weeks. I attribute this success to the fact that I picked flowers that were closed and the weekly upkeep for refreshing the bouquets.

Overall, I thought it was a fantastic experience to visit a flower farm and pick fresh flowers. Plus, I had the perfect sunny weather for a long drive and being outside. I recommend visiting the Holland Ridge Farm with your friends and family for their next tulip season, or plan to visit in the fall for their sunflowers.

What’s your April Highlight?

Do you have a favorite activity, adventure, or highlight from April? Tell me about it in the comments below.

If you’re looking for other New Jersey restaurants and activities to do, click here to read my other New Jersey posts, on the blog.