When Curtis Bashaw and his partner Will Riccio acquired the land that is now Beach Plum Farm in 2007, the vision was to grow food for Cape Resorts restaurants and to perhaps one day build a home. They were inspired by the farming heritage of South Jersey and knew that the economy here was always a mixture of tourism, fishing and farming. In fact, the Millers and Cakes, owners of Congress Hall for a good part of the 1800s, also owned a farm in West Cape May where they grew food for the hotel.