Which Colts Neck holiday calendar are you planning around, the farms' or the town's? The farms' calendar starts on Friday, November 20, when Carm's Farm turns on its holiday lights. The town's starts on Saturday, December 5, with the tree lighting at Town Hall. In between are two full farm weekends and Thanksgiving week, all before the township's first event.
Those two calendars don't overlap until the first weekend of December. After that they run side by side through mid-December. So the planning starts at a pie counter on Route 34.
Thanksgiving Week Runs Through One Counter on Route 34
The orchard side of Colts Neck has already started closing up. Eastmont Orchards has closed for the 2026 season and plans to reopen in mid-July 2027 for peaches and nectarines. That puts most of the holiday food planning on Delicious Orchards.
The Delicious Orchards Thanksgiving catering menu runs only from November 21 to 25, 2026, and every order needs 72 hours' notice. Here's how that works out on the calendar:
- An order placed on Thursday, November 19, can be picked up on Sunday, November 22, at the earliest.
- Sunday, November 22, is the last day to order for a Wednesday, November 25, pickup.
- The menu stops on November 25, so Thanksgiving morning isn't covered.
You order by phone. Call (732) 462-1989 and ask for catering. Sides come in half trays that serve 8 to 12. Mashed potatoes are $55, sausage stuffing is $60, maple bacon Brussels sprouts are $65, and fully cooked boneless turkey breast is $20 a pound. Gravy, cranberry sauce and apple sauce are priced by weight, and the menu asks you to pre-order them.
Pies work differently. Delicious Orchards says its pies are made from scratch every day, crust included, and its pie page separates the pies it promises for Thanksgiving week from the rest:
- Guaranteed Thanksgiving week: apple, pecan and pumpkin.
- As available Thanksgiving week: apple crumb, apple tart, blueberry, blueberry crumb, cherry, Four Berry, NASA Apple and strawberry rhubarb.
- Coconut custard: as available, and the store says your best chance is Wednesday morning.
- Mince: sold only in November and December.
- Peach and peach crumb: out of season. They run from Mother's Day through September.
Every other pie is a gamble on the day. If you have family members with fixed favorites, the safe choices are apple, pecan and pumpkin.
Battleview Orchards in Freehold works on order cutoffs. It takes Thanksgiving pie orders through November 21. Pickup runs Monday, November 23, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Tuesday and Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Thanksgiving morning from 8 to 11:30 a.m.
Carm's Farm Holds the Weekends Before the Town Does
Carm's Farm at 296 Route 537 lists holiday lights starting November 20, running Friday through Sunday. Pictures with Santa start the day after Thanksgiving. The farm's Santa page lists two sessions per day, 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m., spread over nine dates:
| Weekend | Dates | Characters listed |
|---|---|---|
| Thanksgiving weekend | Nov. 27, 28, 29 | Santa and the Grinch on the 27th and 28th |
| First December weekend | Dec. 5, 6 | Santa |
| Second December weekend | Dec. 12, 13 | Sessions listed, no character named |
| Weekend before Christmas | Dec. 19, 20 | Santa and the Grinch |
The Grinch appears from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on his four dates. You book sessions through the farm's linked booking page.
The Fir Farm Keeps a Shorter Week
Thanksgiving weekend is also when Christmas tree season starts in town. The Fir Farm at 166 Hillsdale Road says it usually opens on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, which this year is November 28. It's open Fridays through Sundays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., through Christmas Eve.
That's a smaller window than some nearby tree farms. Anne Ellen Christmas Tree Farm in Manalapan lists its cut-your-own fields as open daily from November 13, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Fir Farm is weekends only, so if you want a tree from Hillsdale Road, plan for Friday through Sunday. That's the same Friday-to-Sunday stretch Carm's runs its lights. With both farms on the same days, every December weekend in Colts Neck has farm events before the town adds its own.
December 5 and 6 Is the One Weekend Both Calendars Run
The township's holiday events are all packed into one weekend. Colts Neck Recreation holds the Holiday Tree Lighting at Town Hall on Saturday, December 5. The next afternoon, the Colts Neck Historical Preservation Committee holds its free Country Christmas Open House at the Montrose Schoolhouse, at the corner of Montrose Road and Cedar Drive, from 1 to 4 p.m. According to the Monmouth Journal's announcement, the one-room schoolhouse will have a tree with period decorations, holiday music, refreshments and a visit from Santa. For details, call 732-462-6888.
That same weekend, Carm's has Santa sessions on both days, 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. On Sunday, December 6, the Montrose open house and Carm's afternoon session both run from 1 to 4 p.m., so Santa is in two places in town at once. One is a free event in a historic schoolhouse. The other is a booked photo session at a working farm.
Here's how a family could split the weekend:
- Saturday morning: a booked Santa session at Carm's, 10 a.m. to noon.
- Saturday: the tree lighting at Town Hall.
- Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.: the Montrose Schoolhouse open house.
- Any time Friday through Sunday: a tree from the Fir Farm on Hillsdale Road, open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The township hasn't posted a time for the tree lighting yet, so the Saturday plan depends on when that's announced.
The Second Weekend Belongs to the Firehouse
The week after the town events, local groups take over. On Thursday, December 10, at 6:30 p.m., the Colts Neck Business Association holds its Christmas party at the Colts Neck General Store. General admission is $50.
Then on Saturday, December 12, and Sunday, December 13, the Colts Neck Volunteer Fire Department holds its annual Breakfast with Santa at Colts Neck Fire Company No. 2, 50 Conover Road. There are seatings at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. both days. Tickets are $20 per person, children 5 and under eat free, and tickets are sold through cnfd.org. The Monmouth Journal's listing says groups of 10 or more can call ahead to reserve a table.
Carm's has sessions on its booking page for both of those days too. A family that goes to the 9 a.m. breakfast seating on Conover Road can still make a later farm session. The 11 a.m. breakfast seating overlaps Carm's 10 a.m. to noon session, so the afternoon session is the one that fits.
The fire department is having a milestone year. The Colts Neck First Aid Squad, which local firefighters started, marked 60 years since its incorporation this October. The Monmouth Journal's anniversary story says the squad began with one Cadillac ambulance in a one-bay garage across from the General Store on Route 537. It now runs two ambulances and a combination rescue unit, and it still treats patients free of charge.
From December 13, Carm's has one more Santa weekend, December 19 and 20, with the Grinch back for both days. The Fir Farm stays open Fridays through Sundays until Christmas Eve.
At The Tully Group, we keep this calendar because we live and work here too. Thanksgiving trays from Route 34, the Saturday-after-Thanksgiving tree run on Hillsdale Road and the Montrose Schoolhouse open house are part of what we talk about when clients ask what a Colts Neck December is like. If you're thinking about a move in the new year, we'll put together your free home valuation and market plan so you can plan around the holidays.
