For years, thousands of children from the Dutch Neck area of town have walked to the Grover Farm to pick pumpkins, flowers, and gourds.
But the Grover Farm’s impact on West Windsor has extended beyond providing a place for family fun in the fall — it also has been a lasting symbol of West Windsor’s agricultural history and served as a catalyst for the township’s aggressive farmland preservation efforts, which have led to the preservation of nearly 50 percent of the township’s land.
Given its importance, many community members have mourned the loss of its patriarch, LeRoy C. “Pete” Grover Jr., 88, known as Pete to many who knew him. Grover died on December 20 in the University Medical Center at Princeton. Born on the farm in Dutch Neck, Grover, a second-generation farmer, was a lifelong resident of West Windsor, and a lifetime farmer and co-owner and operator of Grover Farm with his wife, Florence.
The couple grew strawberries, pumpkins, corn, asparagus, and tomatoes. Throughout the years, the Grovers welcomed generations of families and school children to pick fruits and vegetables.
In 1994 West Windsor purchased the 90-acre farm for $3.26 million, or $37,”000 per acre, in order to preserve it as farmland. This purchase inspired a group of citizens to get together to preserve more farms like it, according to Mike Schuit, a founding member and one of the charter members of the Friends of West Windsor Open Space organization in town. FOWWOS was formed in 1995, a year after the Grover Farm was preserved. Schuit, who served as the president for several years, said that before the farm was purchased, it was always considered, and is still considered today, to “be the crown jewel of the open space preserved in West Windsor.”
“Grover Farm has given the future generations of West Windsor a real appreciation for the need to preserve open space. They’ve had hands on experience of the beauty and importance of preserving farmland in West Windsor, and that’s an important legacy that Pete has left,” Schuit says.
Subsequent to the purchase of the farm, the West Windsor-Plainsboro school district was looking to condemn part of the farm so that it could have land on which to build what later became the Grover Middle School.
There was an uproar in town, however, and residents pushed to keep the farm from being used as a school site, and the school district instead bought the site adjacent to the farm, on which the school was built.
Grover Middle School is named after Army Specialist 4 Thomas Grover, Pete’s son. Grover, a graduate of the school district, died at the age of 22 while serving in the Vietnam War. He received two Purple Hearts and a Silver Star for his service.
Convincing the school board not to place the school on that part of the property also became a rallying point to preserve more open space, Schuit says. “Back in 1994, a little over $3 million seemed like a lot of money,” he says. “But now the cost of doing something like that would be so much greater. In hindsight, it was a real bargain.”
The farm’s purchase also created a rallying point, leading to the formation of FOWWOS, and generated support for increases in the open space tax in West Windsor.
As part of an agreement worked out between the Grovers and the township, the Grovers continued farming the land for as long as they wished, and the family had lifetime rights to the house on the property. Grover grew potatoes on the farm through the 1950s and 1960s, until about the 1970s, when he switched to U-pick because it was economically more viable. He was one of the first in the area to start the U-pick strawberries, pumpkins, and sweet corn.
Steve Jany, who has farmed the land for Grover since the early 1990s, called Grover generous, and said “you wouldn’t find a much nicer man. One of the things he wanted to do was give back to the community through the pumpkins and strawberries and U-pick.” Grover also held many school tours of his farm, and was a hard worker, Jany said.
Jany, who farms about 2,”200 acres between Harry’s Army and Navy in Hamilton up through South Brunswick, said he remembers Grover carrying his irrigation pipe until about eight years ago, and says he told Grover to call him for help instead.
Grover was very supportive of preserving open space and farmland, Jany also recalled, and he would “certainly talk to anybody about preserving ground.” Grover also served on the agriculture committee in the township, and on the Mercer County Board of Agriculture throughout his life up until 15 or 20 years ago. “He would have liked to see the whole town as farmland, but he was a realist,” Jany said.
“He was a good steward of the land as far as taking care of it to make sure it maintained its fertility,” Jany said. “Today, they call it best management practices. He did that, and when his wheat and potatoes didn’t carry anymore, he switched.”
Jany has been farming corn, soybeans, and wheat on the 2,”200 acres that he stewards, but says he will be moving on to hay crops and alfalfa on parts of the Grover farm in the near future.
Charles Appelget, one of the other few lifetime West Windsor farmers in town, said he recalled that Grover’s father owned the farm, and Grover continued the family tradition. “He was just an outgoing person; he welcomed the township into his farm,” Appelget said. “He was one of the first in West Windsor to go this route to keep it open.” After switching to U-Pick, Appelget said Grover continued to welcome school children to his farm and explain to them what a farmer’s life was like, and showed them his equipment and how he farmed the land.
Appelget also recalled Grover’s generosity to the West Windsor Volunteer Fire Company. For a period of about 15 to 20 years, the fire company would hold a chicken barbecue on a Sunday in August as a fundraiser. Grover would allow the members of the fire company to pick potatoes, corn, and any other vegetables needed for the barbecue on the morning of the barbecue, Appelget said.
“He was an old-time generation farmer who will be sorely missed,” Appelget said. “He knew the history of the township back to the early 1900s. He was one of the last longtime township farmers.”
“I am very saddened,” said Schuit. “He was a very modest and very friendly guy. He was definitely important for helping to preserve what many of us loved about West Windsor.”
Grover was also a 75-year member of the Dutch Neck Presbyterian Church, where he was a deacon and trustee. He also served on the advisory board of the First National Bank of Princeton and as the president of the Mercer County Farm Bureau.
Survivors include his wife of 63 years, Florence E. Walter Grover; two sons, Ted Grover and his wife Janice, and Robin W. Grover; two granddaughters, Dr. Emily Grover and Amanda Grover. Donations may be made to Wills Eye, Development Office, 840 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19001.
