By Julia Train
Originally B&B Farms, owned by NJ Secretary of Agriculture Art Brown and his wife Carolyn, Walking Bird Farm strives to bring the community together by connecting with local farmers, artisans and eaters.
The Egg Harbor City farm, which opened in the 1980s, was bought by Jennifer and Ryan LaMonaca, who is the Browns’ nephew and his wife, in 2020.
While the couple loves the farm, it’s not what they planned to do and neither of them had farm experience, despite the fact Mr. LaMonaca grew up in Egg Harbor City with family members who farmed.
Mr. LaMonaca’s a graphic designer with his own business and his wife, who grew up in Trenton, is a former Marine Biologist.
She graduated from Stockton University with a BS in Marine Science in 2000 and worked in the field for 10 years. She wound up switching careers in 2010 and decided to complete an apprenticeship with a local farmer.
Through the apprenticeship, she decided that she wanted to farm, so she went to her husband’s uncle, Art Brown and rented an acre from him. She’s been working on the farm for 14 years.
In 2020, Brown retired and the LaMonacas bought the farm and changed the name.
“[It] was a tough decision. We didn’t want to change the legacy name, but in today’s world, when you do a Google search for ‘B&B,’ you come up with bed and breakfasts. It was not identifying us as a farm operation,” Mrs. LaMonaca said.
The couple worked on the name for about a year. Mr. LaMonaca wanted the name to reflect where his wife came from. The “walking” part of the name represented Mrs. LaMonaca walking away from a career and toward a different path.
The “bird” pays tribute to Brown, who’s passionate about farming and an avid birder. He had birdhouses throughout the farm.
In the springtime, there were nests throughout the fields. He would flag them out in order to protect them from getting hit with the tractors and he would allow the chicks to fledge.
Although the harvesting season is from May to the end of November, maintaining a farm is a year-round job.
During the months of December to February, the farm is closed, only open for a wreath making workshop, and Mrs. LaMonaca works in the office, planning the produce for the season.
In mid-March, the farm crew starts working and they work in the greenhouse and prepare the fields. By April, the seeds are in the ground.
Although owning a farm takes dedication, LaMonaca’s favorite part is being able to grow her own food while living and working there.
“It’s our life. This is what we do. And we get to not only feed ourselves and have a healthy lifestyle,[working] outside every day, but we’re a part of the community and that’s why we do it,” she said. “It’s not just for us, it’s growing community and having people come to the farm and see what agriculture is all about, how the food is grown and meet the people who grow it. That’s really important to us that message gets across.”
