How a once tiny little silver farmstand developed into a mecca of fragrant greenery, gourmet delights, and a repository of local history

by Laura D.C. Kolnoski Photos By Amessé Photography

Enter Sickles Market and face the challenge of where to look first. Its eye-popping holiday decorations, verdant fresh produce, impressive gift boutique, live plants, and mouth-watering prepared and ready-tocook foods pull you in every direction, including back in time. (The wellstocked country market sits on farmland that has been in the same family since the 1660s.)

Today, two generations oversee the business. Third-generation owner Bob Sickles shares a small, memento-filled office with his daughter Tori, who left another career to return to the family enterprise and continue its agrarian legacy. On a fall afternoon, as shoppers were casting gazes over dinner options, a conversation with Bob Sickles offered a convivial, engrossing mix family lore, local evolution, and fascinating factoids, peppered with culinary and horticultural bon mots. The owner has much to share, and revels in the discourse.

With the holidays in full motion, Sickles and his elves have enthusiastically transformed Sickles Market into a country haven. The outdoor garden center teems with greenhouse gems like fresh flowers, plants, trees, shrubs and custom floral services, while the indoor market is stocked with international cheeses, baked goods, a butcher shop, deli, and a kitchen presenting fresh, chef-prepared foods. Especially favored are Sickles’s premium coffees from firms in Monmouth Beach, Atlantic Highlands, and Princeton, including the house’s own Mountain Peak house brand.

Sickles is monitoring reaction to his new line of artificial trees debuting in the Christmas Shop this year. Enlisting an expert, he sourced a container full of premium inventory that arrived in July to expand the shop. Seashell inspired ornaments, glittering silver and white creations, and orbs enveloped in burgundy velvet share space with live greenery. Growing in popularity, the owner said, are small trees for front porch pots and tabletop arrangements. His live trees from nearby Pennsylvania and North Carolina reach up to 14 feet to accommodate customers with generous ceilings.

Seasonal tastings and demonstrations in the food departments add to the festive atmosphere. Customers are taking full advantage of the new designated catering department as well as Sickles’s “growing” interior home-decorating services.

“A lot is going on at once and it’s all hands on deck,” he said. “When it comes to the holidays, some enjoy doing everything themselves, others want ready-made foods. We can put an entire package together to suit either need. Quality is an overused word, but we want to be known for our authentic quality.”

Some of Sickles’s 180 employees have been with the farm since its owner was a kid. Others have over 20 years of tenure.

That’s a tradition Sickles is proud to uphold. The market started in 1908 as a farm selling fruits and vegetables to local stores—with land acquired from the Parker family in a 1663 grant from the king of England to Peter Parker. Eventually a Parker daughter married a Sickles (Harold), who was followed by Bob Sickles Sr. and in 1978, Bob Jr., the third generation.

Pointing to a large aerial photo of the farm decades ago, the owner reminisced about growing up in the fields and greenhouses, tending to and harvesting crops, and spending holidays in the family homestead. By age 14, he was buying produce from other local farms to supplement Sickles’s inventory. The farm market grew to include plants, flowers, and vegetables. A full garden center was added offering perennials, nursery stock, and more, followed by basic groceries. In 1999, the family decided to open the market year round on the advice of a British consultant Bob Jr. met at a trade show, leading to the construction of a new, state-of-the-art greenhouse and more market expansion.

History, tradition, and innovation have played major roles in the success of the business, which won the Specialty Food Association’s “Outstanding Retailer Award” in 2007. Sickles, who has a degree in ornamental horticulture, is a recognized food and garden expert and has served as a judge for prestigious culinary organizations including the James Beard Awards and the Specialty Food Association’s sofi Awards.

A colorful hand-painted “History Wall and Timeline” along the exit—created by a former employee and art teacher—tells the family’s story from the 17th century to today.

“This piece of property has changed to something more permanent with various elements,” Sickles said. “Folks stop and look at the wall; it gives them a sense of our history.”

Earliest records show the family owned over 400 acres along what is now Rumson Road, and that Parker men were active citizens. Late 1600s documents show one to be a constable and surveyor, while another was a magistrate.

Long committed to local charities, Sickles actively supports Holiday Express, HABcore, Red Bank’s Two River Theater and Count Basie Theatre, and Lunch Break, the county’s largest soup kitchen/food pantry/service agency. It has donated oranges and bananas to the Rumson-Fair Haven football team every season for years, and Sickles is also a major sponsor of acclaimed Monmouth County Historical Association’s “Farm: Agriculture in Monmouth 1600 – 2013” exhibition on display through December 31 at its Freehold museum.

“Lunch Break is a food-based charity we’ve been supporting since their inception,” the owner said. “(Late founder) Norma Todd came here to ask for our help. We continue working with the new Executive Director, the wonderful Gwen Love and all the great volunteers. It’s a superb grass-roots charity.”

Some of Sickles’s 180 employees have been with the farm since its owner was a kid. Others have over 20 years of tenure.

“We hire the best and train them to be the best and most knowledgeable,” he said. “I want to pass on the knowledge I have of our products. We have a diverse group from every age and ethnicity, and everyone brings something to the table, including often knowing more than I do in some areas.”

“We want the taste of all our foods to be above the norm,” he added. “Meats are from the best suppliers around. I am most proud of our cheese department, though, with selections from regular cheddar to the finest blue cheeses from France and around the world.”

A new star in the butcher shop is grass-fed Merino lamb from New Zealand and Australia, well-received by customers.

“It’s a phenomenal product, the meat is superb,” Sickles enthused. “People are latching on to grass-fed as an alternative, partly because it contains Omega 3 [fatty acids], like salmon, which is healthier. It’s a good alternative for those who need to moderate their meat intake.”

Sickles is already looking to spring, when a portion of the farm where his father grew berries until recently will be transformed into a community garden. He still personally grows plants at the farm, “…so there will always be farming going on here. This is a beautiful area, a great place to live in New Jersey. It’s the sweet spot. I grew up loving good, fresh food, and it’s my mission to teach folks about it.”

Sickles Market
1 Harrison Ave., Little Silver / 732.741.9563 / sicklesmarket.com