There are no regular days off for a farmer, but Theobold escapes now and then to the Jersey shore, or enjoys a little local night life. (
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Working his way up from a roadside tent, Martin Theobold has expanded his farming dreams across acres and decades. Theobold, who grew up on a beef farm, strayed a bit from his family’s path and struck out to learn the crop growing business on his own. What began as a side gig has grown 37 years later into Heaven Hill Farm and Garden Center in Vernon, NJ, a local institution for gardeners, hikers, pumpkin pickers and cider donut aficionados.
THE INTERNAL ALARM I don’t use an alarm clock anymore, but I normally wake up at 5:30. Since I wake up early, I’ll usually get up, go to the gym, and then eat breakfast.
D.I.Y. BREAKFAST My usual breakfast would be granola and fruit. A lot of the time I make my own granola because I don’t like a lot of sugar in my foods. That would be my go-to breakfast: granola, fruit, and almond milk. A couple times a week, I might cook eggs, but no more than twice a week.
NO DAYS OFF After the gym, I’ll stop in at work. The only time I don’t come to work is if I go away on vacation. I just like to keep an eye on the place, make sure everything is running smoothly.SIMPLICITY My hobbies are eat, drink and be merry.
THE OCEAN CALLS I like to go to the Jersey Shore. I used to go to Spring Lake, but now I go to Ocean Grove which is right next to Asbury Park. Asbury Park is a pretty happening area, a lot of restaurants and things to do.
JOY RIDES I will spend some time at the beach, go for a walk on the boardwalk or ride my bicycle. I’m always hiking or biking. I would wake up every morning and I’d ride my bike from about 7 to 11 a.m. Then I’d be so tired, I’d sleep for two hours. I’d knock myself out.
LIVE MUSIC I enjoy going to concerts and different shows. I just went to see Beautiful in New York City. Sometimes I’ll go to Bethel Woods if there’s an artist there that I enjoy.
JERSEY BOY I like a lot of classic rock and roll bands. Springsteen would probably be the top of the list. I have seen him probably a dozen times, at least. I saw him three times the last time he was on tour.
THE NIGHTLIFE At night, I enjoy meeting up with friends and going to dinner. I would usually go to eat in Warwick, but I will really go anywhere. Like tonight, I’m going to Lake Hopatcong to meet some friends for some dinner.
WINDING DOWN I don’t really have any loyalties to TV shows. I’ll catch some news but sometimes I’ll boycott the news because it’s so terrible. I won’t watch the news for a week. But if I watch anything, it’ll be either news or business slanted. 60 minutes and CBS Sunday Morning are probably the only shows I’m loyal to.
THE CLASSICS Most of today’s sitcoms, I don’t like. The only sitcom I ever liked to watch was Seinfeld. I was loyal to that one. But I never really found another sitcom I wanted to watch every week.
HARD COPY I’ll usually read before bed. Right now, I’m reading a series of short stories of Sherlock Holmes. There must be 200 stories in that book. I’m on page 400 out of one-thousand-something. It’s on my Nook. I’ll use my Nook sometimes, but I prefer not to. I’d rather have a book.
DO NOT DISTURB I’ll usually head to sleep around 10 p.m. My phone shuts off from 10 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. Phones are a useful tool, but I use mine really only for business. I do that so no one will wake me up.