Legendary strains from similarly legendary breeders — not to mention, a comprehensive library of proprietary cannabis genetics — are growing in the Garden State under the direction of Hillview Farms. This flower comes from New Jersey’s first licensed cultivator owned and operated by native New Jersey farmers. And now, you can pick up some of your own from High Street.
Learn a bit about Hillview Farms: who they are, their deep Jersey roots, and what makes their flower so special.
Roots in tradition
The family-owned Hillview Farms traces its roots back more than 75 years in the Garden State. The VandeVrede family has spent decades employing and honing time-tested Dutch growing techniques brought with them from Holland. Crops like leafy greens and flowers flourished on the farm for many years. And now, on the same land his grandparents purchased when they immigrated to New Jersey from Holland, Hillview Farms founder Kenneth VandeVrede leads the way as the first family farm in New Jersey to cultivate cannabis.
“[Hillview] took that expertise and applied it to cannabis when legalization came to New Jersey,” said Erin Stivala, Marketing Director of Hillview Farms. “It’s been a really exciting ride taking all the years of what they’ve learned in the past and applying it to make sure we’re growing a clean, safe, healthy product.”
New Jersey is in Hillview’s DNA
The VandeVredes secured the first medical cannabis cultivation license in New Jersey, a point of pride for the family.
Now that its craft flower is available for the adult-use market in New Jersey, Hillview Farms is reaffirming its commitment to differentiate itself and its products from multi-state operators (MSOs). According to Stivala, their outlook is primarily focused on deeply embedding with the cannabis community and never losing sight of their New Jersey pride.
“Medical patients have and always will be the backbone of what we do, but we’re very excited to be joining the adult-use market,” Stivala said.
Their staff hails predominantly from Garden State, and many of those staff members joined Hillview after spending many years in traditional agriculture.
Stivala emphasized the team’s natural, healthy growth — pun not intended.
“A lot of the same people that worked at the [Hillview] greenhouse are now working at the grow there, which is amazing,” she said. “We’re also bringing in people who have cannabis expertise since it wasn’t something that was grown prior. We’ve got a good combination of the two.”
Hillview came into the cannabis industry with decades of hands-on knowledge of the state’s agriculture. But in many ways, cannabis is a whole other plant, with its intricacies and challenges both from cultivation and regulatory perspectives.
“Anything that’s come our way, we’ve done a good job of facing it and adjusting to make sure that a good product is going out the door and is on the shelves for patients and customers,” Stivala said.
Today, Stivala exudes pride as she sees the team leading the way in craft-grown flower.
“Having a successful crop, dispensary partners that we love to work with, and a product that speaks for itself is really awesome,” Stivala shared.
Hillview Farms flower available at High Street
The brand currently offers five strains in whole flower and pre-roll form. Some of the strains you can expect to find include:
- Forum GSC
- Headband
- Apple Fritter
- Wedding Pie
- White Truffle
Shop Hillview Farms flower at High Street
Prioritizing partnerships with dispensaries like ours that share their vision and values is of utmost importance to Hillview as well.
“It’s a good balance of relationships with people,” Stivala shared with us. “We want to work with like-minded people who care about our product and run a great operation.”
Crafting excellence with High Street
The story of Hillview Farms is one of passion, expertise, and a deep-seated commitment to quality. As they continue to grow and evolve, their dedication to their craft and the community remains steadfast. As one of Hillview’s adult-use dispensary partners, we at High Street Dispensary in Hackettstown are proud to make this cultivator a part of our stellar craft cannabis flower lineup.
At High Street, we take great care to curate a menu that highlights craft growers from around the Garden State. Folks travel from near and far to try carefully crafted strains from passionate growers on small farms throughout the state. Check out our profile on Garden Greens to learn about other craft growers at our dispensary.
