12th annual North Fork Foodie Tour comes to Long Island

The North Fork Foodie Tour can be a challenge, with the prospect of visiting 20 artisan food producers in one day. But organizers of the 12th annual charity event this Sunday have you covered, with suggestions for a couple of special itineraries tailored to particular interests. 

The self-guided tour includes farms, wineries, dairies, and a coffee roaster, and will welcome the public with demonstrations, guided tours, expert advice, and samples. The annual tour benefits the North Fork Reform Synagogue. Along with a $25 per person ticket, there is a guide booklet and map.  

 An all-liquid tour might begin with a cup of artisan coffee at North Fork Roasting Co. Owners Jennilee Morris and Jess Dunne travel to coffee growing regions to personally source beans, shipping them to their Southold roaster. Learn about the process and about different brewing techniques. It also includes a stop at Raphael Vineyards in Peconic, where guests will learn about the journey of the grape, from bud break to bottling. For a complete taste of the North Fork, four Raphael wines will be paired with local epicurean treats. See where beer begins, at Craft Master Hops, touring the Mattituck fields where hops are grown for craft brewers across Long Island. Then check out the Peconic headquarters of Greenport Harbor Brewery, a testament to the growth and popularity of North Fork brews.

Have a small child who loves animals? A family-oriented tour includes a visit to Riverhead’s Goodale Farms, where you can see the baby goats and newborn calves and sample farm-fresh dairy products. Owner Hal Goodale will lead tours and explain the workings of the farm, from milking the animals to making cheese, and share the story of why he started the farm and how he delivers dairy, meat and produce to 200 households through his Healthy Home Delivery program. At Catapano Dairy Farm in Peconic, visitors will get a guided tour of the goat farm, insights into goat keeping and have the opportunity to milk a goat. At Browder’s Birds in Mattituck, ticket holders will be able to walk through the entire farm, see the pasture-raised chickens, sheep and ducks, and learn about the mobile structures where the animals live, how the farmer rotates the grazing animals and other aspects of farm management.

For design-loving foodies, certain spots offer goods for the home as well as the table. At East Marion’s Lavender by the Bay, walk the lavender fields and bring home bunches of dried lavender to perfume your home. The North Fork Flower Farm in Orient, new to the tour this year, grows flours, herbs and grasses to make local bouquets and arrangements. Visitors can stroll the 2-acre farm devoted to growing cut flowers. The owners will be on hand to answer questions about flower growing and making the perfect bouquet. Refreshments will include lavender limeade made with lavender grown on the farm. Pick up pumpkins and Indian corn to decorate your front porch after touring Krupski’s Pumpkin Farm, a traditional farm in Peconic, where everything grows in the fields, as opposed to a greenhouse. Summer crops including tomatoes and eggplant will still be available. The farm’s watermelon will be served as refreshment. 8 Hands Farm in Cutchogue offers blankets and pillows woven with wool from the farm’s sheep, as well as meat, eggs and vegetables.

Vegetarians and other salad lovers might prioritize Cutchogue’s Koppert Cress, with a greenhouse full of heirloom microgreens grown for top chefs. Get the lowdown on biodynamic farming, along with free cherry tomato samples at The Farm in Southold. Satur Farms in Peconic, which specializes in baby-leaf salad greens, is only open to the public once a year and offers just one tour, at 11 a.m. It’s an opportunity for people interested in production agriculture. Walk the fields and learn about the farm’s history, why they grow what they grow, how they seed, and why they seed so many times in a year. Treiber Farms in Peconic, new to the tour this year, provides organic vegetables, herbs and flowers to esteemed North Fork establishments including Caci and North Fork Table & Inn.