Products made on Long Island: Soap, honey, knitwear and more
Margaret Barna at her apiary and “honey house” in Holbrook, where she produces and bottles her Barna Bee honey. Credit: Linda Rosier
For those who make shopping small a priority, browsing Long Island's locally made products is a natural next step. They’re made from ingredients and materials grown and raised right here — and that’s something worth buzzing about.
Ask Margaret Barna, who’s carved a career out of making honey. Her bees collect what goes into the sweet condiment from local blooms. “Native flowers on Long Island create special and unique flavors,” she says.
Barna takes pride that her process and finished products are the from her own backyard.
She’s in good company. Here are other Long Islanders who make products like soap, beeswax lotion, candles and more from raw materials, flowers and the help of animals and insects.
Meet the maker: Barna, a Holbrook-based single mom in her 40s from Belgium, is a fourth-generation honey maker. “My family is still making honey in Europe,” she says.
Business cycle: Bee colonies “are strategically placed” around Long Island. Usually in April, the busy insects gather pollen and nectar, which they deposit in their hives. In June, Barna uses a spinning process to collect the “raw golden deliciousness.” Honey in 12-ounce jars are $23.
Product spotlight: Raw honey, like fine wine or pure olive oil, varies subtly from harvest to harvest.
Find it: Local food shop The Crushed Olive (in Babylon, Commack, Huntington, Sayville and Stony Brook), lfarmers’ markets (look for Barna in her eye-catching yellow truck from Japan) and online.
Looking ahead: “Nothing gets wasted,” says Barna. Her daughter, Savannah, 28, is developing a line of beeswax blend candles called Burnt Honey, $25.
INFO: 631-615-6140, barnabeehoney.com
Meet the maker: “The business started as a hobby for my parents,” says Chanan Rozenbaum, 45. Serge and Susan Rozenbaum’s pastime has grown into two lavender farms — in East Marion in 2002 and Calverton in 2018.
Business cycle: From mid-June to the end of July, the farms’ fields of aromatic blooming lavender turn the North Fork landscape into fragrant seas of purple. The flowers, well-regarded for their calming properties, are used to make sachets, beeswax candles and an array of bath and body products.
Product spotlight: The lavender beeswax lotion bar and lavender hydrosol face and body mist ($11 each) are popular. “We make small batches of these products throughout the year,” says Rozenbaum. The lavender honey made in summer sells out in a flash.
Find it: At the Lavender by the Bay farms, local farmers’ markets and online
Looking ahead: “The response has been amazing to the business,” says Rozenbaum. “It’s not always easy. It's so important to support your local farmer and your local artisan and entrepreneur.”
INFO: 7540 Main Rd., East Marion and 47 Manor Rd., in Calverton; 631-477-1019, lavenderbythebay.com
Meet the maker: “We raise and breed llamas — that’s what we’re known for,” says Tabbethia Haubold, 50, who founded the Yaphank farm. There are also angora goats, sheep, alpaca and angora rabbits. “Our yarns are all American made, but not everything in the store is from our farm.”
Product spotlight: Llama loofahs ($15), which are good exfoliators. Haubold shears her animals and those fibers get milled into roving or unspun wool, that she hand-felts around soaps. Llamas hum to each other; you can sing in the shower with a llama loofah.
Find it: Long Island Yarn & Farm shop and online.
Looking ahead: “Shearing season is starting up pretty soon,” she says, adding that llama fleece is like hair. “You can get anywhere from three-quarters of a pound to a pound-and-a-half off a llama.”
INFO: 125 Gerard Rd., Yaphank; 631-924-8110, liyarnandfarm.com
Meet the maker: Steve Perazzo, 37, who works full-time in IT, launched his home-based side hustle in Ronkonkoma a year ago. His wife, Jackie, assists with design.
Product spotlight: Soaps are made in small batches and sell for $7 a bar. Lavender soaps are a bestseller. “We consistently get asked for lavender,” says Perazzo, who stocks up on the wanted ingredients at Lavender by the Bay in Calverton.
Find it: On the website
Looking ahead: “Every batch of soap we make is unique,” says Perazzo. “It’s a nice break from looking at screens all day.”
INFO: 631-319-8954, soapyourselfhappy.com
Meet the maker: Holly and Chris Browder established their multipurpose home farm, Browder’s Birds, in Mattituck in 2010. The couple’s initial focus on poultry (hence, the name) expanded to sheep which led to wool which led to knitwear.
Business cycle: Cotswold sheep, a long-wood breed, get sheared twice a year. “We have big skirting tables that we put each fleece on,” says Holly. “We pick out the grass and debris they’ve worn for six months.” Fleece goes to an upstate mill to be spun into yarn. Colorful sweaters and accessories are hand-knit off-site.
Product spotlight: “There’s slow food,” says Holly, 46. “This is slow fashion.” From start to finish it takes about a year to go from fleece to finished clothing. Cardigans are $300 and surf beanies sell for $50.
Find it: At the farm shop and on the website
Looking ahead: “The story behind these items,” says Holly, “are as important as the products themselves.”
INFO: 4050 Soundview Ave., Mattituck; 631-599-3394, browdersbirds.com
For those who make shopping small a priority, browsing Long Island's locally made products is a natural next step. They’re made from ingredients and materials grown and raised right here — and that’s something worth buzzing about.
Ask Margaret Barna, who’s carved a career out of making honey. Her bees collect what goes into the sweet condiment from local blooms. “Native flowers on Long Island create special and unique flavors,” she says.
Barna takes pride that her process and finished products are the from her own backyard.
She’s in good company. Here are other Long Islanders who make products like soap, beeswax lotion, candles and more from raw materials, flowers and the help of animals and insects.
Barna Bee Honey
Margaret Barna's products include honey tonics and beeswax candles. Credit: Linda Rosier
Meet the maker: Barna, a Holbrook-based single mom in her 40s from Belgium, is a fourth-generation honey maker. “My family is still making honey in Europe,” she says.
Business cycle: Bee colonies “are strategically placed” around Long Island. Usually in April, the busy insects gather pollen and nectar, which they deposit in their hives. In June, Barna uses a spinning process to collect the “raw golden deliciousness.” Honey in 12-ounce jars are $23.
Product spotlight: Raw honey, like fine wine or pure olive oil, varies subtly from harvest to harvest.
Find it: Local food shop The Crushed Olive (in Babylon, Commack, Huntington, Sayville and Stony Brook), lfarmers’ markets (look for Barna in her eye-catching yellow truck from Japan) and online.
Looking ahead: “Nothing gets wasted,” says Barna. Her daughter, Savannah, 28, is developing a line of beeswax blend candles called Burnt Honey, $25.
INFO: 631-615-6140, barnabeehoney.com
Lavender by the Bay
Lavender grown at Lavender by the Bay farms in East Marion and Calverton is transformed into products including beeswax lotion bar and hydrosol face and body mist. Credit: Lavender by the Bay
Meet the maker: “The business started as a hobby for my parents,” says Chanan Rozenbaum, 45. Serge and Susan Rozenbaum’s pastime has grown into two lavender farms — in East Marion in 2002 and Calverton in 2018.
Business cycle: From mid-June to the end of July, the farms’ fields of aromatic blooming lavender turn the North Fork landscape into fragrant seas of purple. The flowers, well-regarded for their calming properties, are used to make sachets, beeswax candles and an array of bath and body products.
Product spotlight: The lavender beeswax lotion bar and lavender hydrosol face and body mist ($11 each) are popular. “We make small batches of these products throughout the year,” says Rozenbaum. The lavender honey made in summer sells out in a flash.
Find it: At the Lavender by the Bay farms, local farmers’ markets and online
Looking ahead: “The response has been amazing to the business,” says Rozenbaum. “It’s not always easy. It's so important to support your local farmer and your local artisan and entrepreneur.”
INFO: 7540 Main Rd., East Marion and 47 Manor Rd., in Calverton; 631-477-1019, lavenderbythebay.com
Long Island Yarn & Farm
Llama loofahs are made at Long Island Yarn & Farm in Yaphank. Credit: Long Island Yarn & Farm
Meet the maker: “We raise and breed llamas — that’s what we’re known for,” says Tabbethia Haubold, 50, who founded the Yaphank farm. There are also angora goats, sheep, alpaca and angora rabbits. “Our yarns are all American made, but not everything in the store is from our farm.”
Product spotlight: Llama loofahs ($15), which are good exfoliators. Haubold shears her animals and those fibers get milled into roving or unspun wool, that she hand-felts around soaps. Llamas hum to each other; you can sing in the shower with a llama loofah.
Find it: Long Island Yarn & Farm shop and online.
Looking ahead: “Shearing season is starting up pretty soon,” she says, adding that llama fleece is like hair. “You can get anywhere from three-quarters of a pound to a pound-and-a-half off a llama.”
INFO: 125 Gerard Rd., Yaphank; 631-924-8110, liyarnandfarm.com
Soap Yourself Happy
Lavender soap made at Ronkonkoma-based home business Soap Yourself Happy is the top seller. Credit: Soap Yourself Happy
Meet the maker: Steve Perazzo, 37, who works full-time in IT, launched his home-based side hustle in Ronkonkoma a year ago. His wife, Jackie, assists with design.
Product spotlight: Soaps are made in small batches and sell for $7 a bar. Lavender soaps are a bestseller. “We consistently get asked for lavender,” says Perazzo, who stocks up on the wanted ingredients at Lavender by the Bay in Calverton.
Find it: On the website
Looking ahead: “Every batch of soap we make is unique,” says Perazzo. “It’s a nice break from looking at screens all day.”
INFO: 631-319-8954, soapyourselfhappy.com
Browder’s Birds
Holly Browder holds a sweater in her store made with wool from her Cotswold sheep on March 6 in Mattituck. Credit: Tom Lambui
Meet the maker: Holly and Chris Browder established their multipurpose home farm, Browder’s Birds, in Mattituck in 2010. The couple’s initial focus on poultry (hence, the name) expanded to sheep which led to wool which led to knitwear.
Business cycle: Cotswold sheep, a long-wood breed, get sheared twice a year. “We have big skirting tables that we put each fleece on,” says Holly. “We pick out the grass and debris they’ve worn for six months.” Fleece goes to an upstate mill to be spun into yarn. Colorful sweaters and accessories are hand-knit off-site.
Product spotlight: “There’s slow food,” says Holly, 46. “This is slow fashion.” From start to finish it takes about a year to go from fleece to finished clothing. Cardigans are $300 and surf beanies sell for $50.
Find it: At the farm shop and on the website
Looking ahead: “The story behind these items,” says Holly, “are as important as the products themselves.”
INFO: 4050 Soundview Ave., Mattituck; 631-599-3394, browdersbirds.com
