Early Girl Farm in Brookhaven launches weekly market
Patty Gentry has been farming for more than a decade, but this is the first year she is selling directly to the public.
When she broke ground at Early Girl Farm in Brookhaven a decade ago, her intention was to sell vegetables and herbs to restaurants. "I was a professional chef for 25 years before I started farming," she said. "And my idea was to bring the diversity of a small farm to the kitchen door."
Her first client was Stone Creek Inn in East Quogue, and over the years her roster has grown to include Chachama Grill (East Patchogue), Copper Beech (Bellport) and The State Room (Patchogue) as well as Missy Robbins’ two Brooklyn restaurants, Lilia and Misi.
Six years ago, she started a CSA (community supported agriculture) whose members pay her a lump sum in the winter that entitles them to pick up a weekly haul of produce from spring into fall. But what a pickup! In addition to the neatly packed bags, there’s a market set up under a tent where members can buy additional items. Under another tent, Gentry mans the griddle where she makes dosas (South Indian crepes) which are accompanied by salads, juices and shaved ice.
Patty Gentry in the field harvesting tomatoes at her Early Girl Farm in Brookhaven. Credit: Randee Daddona
No visit to Early Girl is complete without a stroll around the farm, three of the prettiest acres you will find on Long Island.
This year, Gentry decided to invite in customers who aren’t ready for a weekly commitment but who still want the Early Girl Experience. Salads, juices and shaved ice are still on the menu, but dosas are swapped out for tartines — fancy grilled open-face sandwiches.
Gentry sets out a dazzling array of fresh produce. Right now you’ll find multiple varieties of tomatoes, summer squash, beets, lettuce, peppers, potatoes, onions, shallots, leeks, string beans, eggplant, fennel, cabbage, carrots, lettuce, broccoli, cucumbers, kale and fresh herbs plus bouquets of her flowers. Since she doesn’t raise fruit, she offers peaches, berries and more from Briermere Farms of Riverhead; since she doesn’t grow mushrooms, she offers assorted wild fungi from Mattituck Mushrooms.
Plant-focused as she is, Gentry knows that a meal requires more and so she also offers sourdough bread from Holbrook’s What’s in Clark’s Kitchen and a huge spread of oils, vinegars, olives, preserved fish, beans, grains and pasta, many of which are from Gustiamo, the Bronx-based importer of Italian specialty items.
"When I put the market together," she said, "I’m thinking like a cook. These are the most nutrient-dense, vibrant vegetables we can grow. And I want people to be able to prepare a meal with them in 20 minutes. The whole idea behind the market is to try to get people enthusiastic about cooking for themselves."
Early Girl Farm, 279 S. Country Rd., Brookhaven, earlygirlfarm.com. Open Fridays noon to 5 p.m.
