Following this year’s apple picking season, Hill Creek Farms near Mullica Hill will close, bringing an end to decades of family-friendly fruit harvesting, hayrides, and sales of its famous apple cider donuts.
Fred Sorbello, the founder and proprietor of the Gloucester County farm, made the announcement on the farm’s website.
According to Sorbello’s declaration, “of all my business successes, nothing compared to farming and all the memories it brought back to me of growing up on a farm.”
The farm will close following the nine- or 10-week pick-your-own apple season that begins next month, he said, adding that it’s time to call it a career.
Sorbello attributed his departure from farming to conflicts with the local health authority.
From now on, I will not work with the Gloucester County Board of Health. And regrettably, he posted on the farm’s website that another New Jersey farm might have lost.
On September 6, the opening day of Hill Creek, several of the farm’s regular attractions, such as the market, wine garden, and children’s playground, will not be open. According to the farm’s website, visitors can still take part in hayrides, barrel train rides for children, sunflower fields, and apple picking.
The Hill Creek Farms Facebook page was inundated with warm wishes for Sorbello’s retirement and happy recollections from previous years from a large number of devoted admirers.
On your farm, we took pictures for my son’s second birthday! One mother wrote in a post, “We treasure those pictures and have gone every fall for apples since he will be nine years old.”
I wish you success and hope your retirement is enjoyable! You allowed me to bring my special needs daughter to your farm a few years ago before it closed for the day so she could pick sunflowers away from the throng. Another mother remarked, “I will always remember your act of kindness.”
Sorbello claimed that while the challenges of managing an agritourism farm were the primary reason for his resignation, ongoing pressure from the Gloucester County Health Department was the last straw.
The department is in charge of monitoring safety and health regulations set by the state Department of Health. According to Sorbello, the fun farm market’s regulatory requirements compelled him to either make a significant investment in modernizing farm operations or bid Hill Creek Farms farewell.
Gloucester County Department of Health health official Annmarie Ruiz told NJ Advance Media that the county has been in communication with the farm regarding operations for a number of years.
According to Ruiz, the discussions began in 2018 when Hill Creek Farms requested authorization to construct an employee restroom on the second level of the market building without mentioning the expansion of food facilities.
According to her, the county learned three years later that the farm had grown to include a full-size kitchen and a rental space that had not been specified in its initial application. The owner was informed by officials that the renovations were not permitted by the state approval procedure.
According to Ruiz, Hill Creek Farms consented to reduce services, but the county later discovered that operations had once more gone above the permitted limits. After years of disagreements between the farm and the health authorities, Sorbello declared the property will shut down.
We mentioned that the facility is not allowed to reopen for the 2025 season unless they improve their septic properly or eliminate the culinary operation, yet the health agency did not shut them down last year with a few weeks remaining in the season.
Although the farm may have pushed it too far, Sorbello stated in his retirement announcement that the demands made on a tiny family farm by the health department were excessive.
As Hill Creek Farms closes, Sorbello said Mario Caltabiano’s MC Farms will continue the apple-picking customs at the location.
Caltabiano, who will open his orchard a few miles up the road for families to create new memories, will oversee the last season at Hill Creek.
Thank you to everyone. In his farewell remarks, Sorbello expressed gratitude for making Hill Creek Farms the top Apple U-Pick destination in this tri-state region.
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