NOTICE: We are now booking private events and tours! Please contact us to schedule your visit to our farm!
Plan your next field trip and bring your class or group for an educational and fun day on a modern, family-owned and operated, 500+ acre working produce farm. We are conveniently located in Hackettstown, New Jersey, which is approximately a one hour drive west of New York City – nestled in beautiful Warren County. It is an easy commute for an experience that children and their families will remember forever. No visit is the same twice. We can tailor any program to your goals for your students or group, and make sure you have a fantastic time meeting those goals as well!
Educational School and Group Farm Tours
All tours include:
- Customized Tour Planning: Pre-tour planning to create a trip that meets your group’s unique needs or learning objectives
- Private Tent: Your private tent will serve as a ‘home base’ for your group to gather
- Interactive Educational Hayride Farm Tour: Includes stops for discussions of the different crops and current farm activity. A stop at Donaldson’s Greenhouse and Nursey to tour the greenhouse and visit the Koi pond and waterfall to feed the fish can be incorporated into your hayride tour.
- Picking or Planting Activity: Each participant picks a pre-determined amount of the available fruit or vegetable, crop conditions permitting. If a crop is unavailable, a fun planting project will be substituted
- Educational Lesson: A farm tour guide dedicated to your group will provide an educational lesson on the growth cycle of fruit or vegetable you are picking
- Healthy Snack: A healthy snack and drink is served to each participant
- Storytime (age appropriate – if desired)
- Add-on Activities Equine education: meet our ponies/horses and learn about them and their care, create a farm-related craft, enjoy a make-and-take planting activity, and more.
- Lunch Time! Bring a packed lunch and relax in the beautiful, safe and relaxed setting following your tour. Pizza party and catering options are also available from locally loved eateries in our area.
- Safe and Relaxed Setting: You’ll have peace and mind knowing that your group will be hosted by dedicated farm staff on the day of your visit. While we proudly provide a safe and fun environment for our guests – teachers, parents, and aides are expected to supervise their groups.
- Tour Times: The complete farm visit experience lasts approximately 90 minutes and can be extended depending on the amount of attendees and activities selected.
Depending on the season, the weather can be unpredictable on the farm! We recommend emailing your group ahead of your visit to remind them to be weather aware. Be sure to check the weather and don’t forget to bring sunscreen, jackets or sweatshirts, gloves, and comfortable, sturdy shoes!
Farm Tour Options
Enjoy, educational, exciting and affordable programs at the farm this season! Tours can be customized based on grade and age level. Each tour may include a planting project that everyone takes home, an educational lesson, an interactive tractor hayride tour of the farm, and a tasty snack! Following are just a few examples of the tours we offer…
- Pick-Your-Own Tour – Depending on the season, kids have the opportunity to pick and learn about strawberries, peaches, corn, pumpkins, or apples!
- Farm Soil Sample Tour – Detect PH and nutrients!
- Corn Pollination Tour – Learn all about corn pollination. (It’s fascinating, really!)
- Equine Education – Meet our ponies and horses! Learn about Equine health care and management.
- Custom Farm Tour options available – contact us!
- Farm Craft Experience – Educational and interactive learning through crafts
Contact us about other programs that are perfect for kids and adults – or let us work with you to develop a custom program for your group!
NJ Core Curriculum Compliant
Everyone in your group will be happily engaged in our interactive learning programs which go hand-in-hand with and exceed the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards. We provide a unique learning experience for your children! Even if your organization does not follow New Jersey’s core curriculum program – that’s okay!
We recognize and appreciate that the teachers who visit our farm always strive to give their students the best learning experience that they could have. Farm tutorials are an important part of a child’s education since they offer a well-rounded learning experience they will never forget. Donaldson Farms provides an ever-changing curriculum for you and your students. Ask us for details.
Strawberry Picking & Planting Group Tours
Weather and Crop Conditions Permitting – Available in May and June. Typically, the month of May includes a make-and-take strawberry planting activity and June includes strawberry picking!
Strawberry Picking Tours include an educational lesson about strawberries, an interactive private hayride tour of the farm, a pint container to pick your own strawberries, a refreshing snack at our picnic area, and enjoying the beauty of Donaldson Farms! Many of our farm friends have never had the opportunity of tasting their first bite of a strawberry. Strawberry picking is a memorable experience for all ages! Each participant will go home with a fresh-picked pint of strawberries to share with their family – if they make it that far! Strawberry season officially begins in early June – tours booked in May will include the planting of an individual strawberry plant for each participant to take home and grow their own strawberries!
Raspberry & Blackberry Picking Group Tours
Weather and Crop Conditions Permitting – Available in early July through September. Not available on Mondays
Summer Tours feature the option of picking red, black, and golden raspberries, blackberries. In addition to the crop-picking activity, you will enjoy an interactive private hayride tour of the farm, and a refreshing snack at our picnic area.
Pumpkin & Apple Picking Group Tours
Weather and Crop Conditions Permitting – Available from late September – October
Apple Picking Tours include apple picking (participants take home a specified number of apples) from our apple orchard. All participants will receive an educational and interactive hayride tour of the farm, education on our unique apple-growing method and the growth cycle of apples, and an apple and fresh apple cider drink for a snack! All participants will go home with fresh-picked apples to share with your family.
Pumpkin Picking Tours include pumpkin picking (participants take home a pumpkin) from our private pumpkin patch exclusively for tours, an educational lesson on the pumpkin fruit growth cycle, an interactive tractor hayride tour of the farm, and an apple and some fresh apple cider to enjoy for a snack! Your group will pick their pumpkins right off the vine – an exceptional learning experience for everyone!
Plan Your Visit
We are excited to have your group join us for these fun and memorable programs. We encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity soon – our calendar fills up fast, especially for strawberry and pumpkin season! Please contact us with any questions or for more information. A farm and school tour group guide which provides details, pricing, and add-on activity information will be provided.
Depending on the season, the weather can be unpredictable on the farm. Be sure to check the weather and don’t forget to bring sunscreen, jackets or sweatshirts, gloves, and comfortable, sturdy shoes!
Reservations / More Information
Please call (908) 852-9122 x 2 or contact us for more information or to reserve your desired date and time. Our farm family looks forward to hosting your group. It will be an experience they will remember for many years to come!
