Casey Jansen had already been forced to do some fancy maneuvering when the initial order against public gatherings came down from Gov. Phil Murphy’s office last month in response to the coronavirus.

His Holland Ridge Farms Tulip Festival - widely popular after only two years in operation - would have to be cancelled as a result of the restrictions. Being the adaptable farmer he has been his entire life, the 43-year-old Jansen quickly reevaluated his situation and made plans for a drive-through tulip trail so that his thousands of eager flower lovers and customers could still enjoy the dazzling bursts of color in full bloom on his Cream Ridge-based farm.

The next order, however, stopped Jansen dead in his tracks.

That’s when state Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher called Jansen on the night of April 7, only about 10 hours before he was to open his vehicular trail, which was approved by the Upper Freehold council and championed by Fisher himself.

“Let me tell you first that Doug Fisher is a very nice man; he has helped me in a lot of ways in other aspects of farming,” Jansen said. “But he said he felt truly sorry, but had to pass along the message from the Attorney General’s Office that I am not allowed to open.”

“After he said that, there was a long enough pause where he said, ‘Casey, are you still there?’ I was, but I couldn’t talk because tears were running down my face. I was so choked up, I couldn’t say anything.”

Jansen could only see in his teary mind’s eye those gorgeous tulips in his fields withering away while green dollar bills flew away from the farm whose mere existence was suddenly in jeopardy.

Jansen was told he would still be allowed to offer drive-up pickup for tulips and that an online delivery option was also fine. He is immensely grateful to the many customers who have flocked to his farm in the past two weeks to purchase flowers, but even that will not come close to recouping his expenses.

“We planted all these tulip bulbs in the months of October and November. That’s when we make the investment, and my investment is just about a million dollars,” said Jansen, whose Monmouth County farm is still considered an essential business according to the governor’s description.

So is Dalton Farms further south in Swedesboro, whose drive-through Tour of Tulips has been thriving for the past several weeks. In fact, online tickets at the Gloucester County business are sold out through the end of the festival this Sunday evening.

The attorney general, for some reason, did not treat Dalton Farms as harshly as Holland Ridge, though Jansen was not given a specific explanation as to why from either Fisher or the Attorney General’s Office.

“I got an email telling me there was an executive order that didn’t allow me to have the drive-through, and that two state police officers (Upper Freehold does not have its own force) would be there first thing the next morning to make sure I was complying. They told me if one car was to drive through the tulip field, I’d be arrested,” he said. “I felt like I was being treated like a criminal.”

The Attorney General’s Office was asked for an explanation, and this was the response forwarded by Sharon Lauchaire, the public information officer:

In order to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus, events of any size cannot take place. The business was notified that its event could not take place as planned. The use of cars at the event does not change the fact that large numbers of people would still be gathering. This policy has been applied consistently since Executive Order 107 went into effect. The business was notified that they could continue to sell flowers through online orders and by pick-up only in accordance with the provisions set forth in the Executive Order that allows nurseries, garden centers and farms that sell directly to customers to continue to operate. (AO 2020-5; EO 107).

It is important to point out that Jansen holds no animosity whatsoever toward Dalton for his good fortune, and that Dalton feels only pain and regret for Jansen’s circumstance. The two are friends and consider themselves united famers rather than business rivals.

“We’re all in this together. We’re all farmers and farmers all throughout the country are hurting,” said Keith Dalton, owner and operator of Dalton Farms. “Casey is a great guy and he has a lot of money invested in his machinery. The orders are a quarter of what they were to the grocery stores. If he can’t get people into the fields (to visit the display), he’s going to lose all of it.”

Dalton charges $20 per car for his Tour of Tulips. All tickets were sold online only and any pre-sales of flowers also are made online. A bar code is scanned through the car window and purchases are placed in the trunk of the car without the motorist ever stepping out or having to make any kind of person-to-person exchange.

That is very similar to the plan drawn up by Jansen and his marketing team as soon as the likelihood of his tulip festival being conducted as usual was in question. He was to charge $25 per car, which would include a bunch of tulips. All tickets were to be strictly sold online and all transactions contact free.

Jansen’s festival was launched in 2018, and its popularity was instantaneous.

“It was so explosive; there were thousands of cars. We were overwhelmed,” Jansen said. "It was Easter weekend and people in the neighborhood couldn’t even leave their houses and visitors could not come by to visit on Easter.

Because Holland Ridge Farms in Cream Ridge is not allowed to have people walk through their tulip fields this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, customers can only buy bouquets of cut tulips. The farm wanted to offer a drive-through option for people to enjoy the tulip farm but were not allowed. Friday, Apr. 10, 2020. Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media

“I understand their concern,” he said. “That’s why that Monday morning after Easter I was at the Township Hall first thing to explain myself. I told them I had no idea it was going to be this explosive and that I would have a better plan the next year. I was always proactive, it was always improving.”

The council agreed. Jansen’s plans for the 2020 festival were approved unanimously and not one critic showed up to condemn the format during the public session. But Jansen has since seen a number of anonymous complaints about traffic congestion emerge on the Allentown-Upper Freehold Facebook page.

“Not one of those people ever came to complain at the meetings when I was on the agenda,” Jansen said. “They can bark real quick when they’re on social media or use their their keystrokes real quick. But they never once came face-to-face to talk about it in open session.”

That is not the case with the many concerned patrons of festivals prior who have heard of Jansen’s troubles and want to help where they can.

The original $1 million was not Jansen’s only expense. For instance, once the festival was shut down, he purchased roughly $8,000 worth of new signage to direct motorists safely through the field and caution them on social distancing. He laid out another $4,000 for six megaphones, and he also hired additional personnel to help coordinate the traffic flow and fulfill the online orders.

“The support from all our followers has been very heartwarming. It’s really been unbelievable,” Jansen said. “It makes me feel good that there are that many people out there supporting us. We had someone drive three hours here (from Pennsylvania) to support us. I know that’s not what the governor wants people to be doing, but it just goes to show how important these beautiful flowers can be to people. Especially now.”

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Mike Kinney may be reached at mkinney@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MikeKinneyHS. Find NJ.com on Facebook.