Dan's Papers - October 16, 2009 - Givin' You The Business

According to farm stand owners and shoppers, the Southampton Farmers Market, situated in the village parking lot behind the Parrish Art Museum on Jobs Lane, is a success. The market is held on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., mainly because most of the farm stand vendors are busy at other venues on Saturdays, and most stand operators work seven days a week until the weather ends the run.

Take Ethan Burke of North Main Street Farms. Related to both the White and Bishop families and farming thirteenth-generation fields, Burke was all smiles as he talked about heirloom tomatoes, peppers, Chioggia red beets and perhaps the largest sweet potatoes I have ever seen. "Growing potatoes is sort of an art form in the Hamptons," he said matter-of-factly. Burke's Farm sells wholesale to other farm stands in the area and is a prime example of Peconic Land Trust (PLT) President John Halsey's vision of local farmers selling local produce to local customers.

A stand or two away, Alex Balsam represented his 60-acre Balsam Farm on Town Lane Road and Windmill Lane in Amagansett that he started with college buddy Ian Calder-Piedmonte only seven years ago. Balsam, a graduate of East Hampton High, said the farm specializes in flowers and vegetables. He said they've had problems with zoning board red tape to build necessary infrastructure like barns and storage buildings. Expressing how older farms have been grandfathered in to avoid hassles, he hopes that the PLT will address this as part of their agenda. Of the new farmer's market Balsam said, "It's very encouraging. We started late, but it's popular."

Another approach to it all is the entrepreneurial mindset of Laura O'Brien and her husband Sean Francis O'Brien, who started a local marmalade brand exclusive to the Southampton market under the Josephine's Feast label (named after their daughter). O'Brien said the goal was to create, "An atelier of confiture, offering an extraordinary collection of seasonal gourmet preserves, exotic spices and bakery specialties, in an artisanal tradition." In short they offer an Italian plum preserve scented with rosemary, ruby red grapefruit marmalade, rhubarb and ginger preserves and "Shinnecock Bay Heirloom Apple Butter." Pricing the eight-ounce jars at $10 and two-ounce jars at three for $10, this family seems to have created a great business.

There was a local cheese presence in the form of the Mecox Bay Dairy. Located between Mecox Bay and Swan Creek in Bridgehampton, Mecox produces farmstead artisanal cheeses. Tasting the samples is always fun, but fine cheeses can be pricey. During the tasting, an aroma turned me toward the tables of the Blue Duck Bakery, manned by Lee-Ann. With at least seven different types of freshly baked bread, Lee-Ann pointed out, "The chocolate bread is only for sale on Sundays." Ahh, the breads looked as rich as their names: olive rosemary, sunflower seed, country white and classic French batard. The apple pies were also tempting!

Sometimes you can't have bread without olive oil, and the Arlotta farm stand, presenting the market with fine olive oils from Modena, was close by. I was amazed by the blood orange and garlic-infused (a big seller) varieties. Arlotta Food Studio is located in Water Mill. Mario Pecoraro and Chris Arlotta were all smiles, saying they now have regular customers who head to the farmer's market to restock.

Behind all success is a flip side, and in this case it's some Southampton Chamber of Commerce members' unhappiness about of the market. At a recent meeting, I heard complaints that the market vendors don't have high village rents and are taking away sales from the shops-the argument being that shoppers today have only a few dollars to spend. One of the vendors laughed and said, "First of all, my tax bill to Southampton Town for the farm is huge. As for the other point, it is laughable. I mean, $8 for vegetables and $500 for a blouse are two different universes."

All vendors are truly looking forward to the next summer season. They consider this off-season to be R&D time for when the floodgates open to hordes of summertime shoppers. As Balsam said, "There is a built-in customer base out herin the summer."