For Hamptons farmstands, the season’s bounty is in peak season and the local produce is not only picture perfect, it’s delicious.  Enjoying a local farm stand August tomato is better than sex.  Seriously – just add salt.  And using them for the famous Ladies Village Improvement Society East End Tomato Tart is simply one of life’s tastiest pleasure (go by the LVIS thrift store in East Hampton to get their cook book.)  But gourmands or those with vastly underused Viking Stoves alike will appreciate the variety of what can be found. 

Local farmers markets are a tasting treat with everything from local wines, cheeses, produce, flowers, seafood, honey, jams, marinades, baked goods, and pickles. 

You can find one in Sag Harbor on Bay Street across from the Breakwater Yacht Club on Saturday from 9pm – 1pm but go early as they do run out of some produce.  They are also in Bridgehampton at 151 Mitchell Lane at the Hayground School on Friday from 3 – 7.

 

You can pick from the finest varieties of mushrooms or buy edible flowers for your salad or buy a Rugosa Rose Jelly.  Chat with Mary Woltz about her honey bees and the different varieties of honey she creates as well as beauty products or discuss different varietals of wine with wine maker Roman Roth. 

And just as a cigar isn’t just a cigar, a pickle is hardly just a pickle when you have choices of Sweet Cajun, Red Flannels, Bread & Butter, and New or Kosher Dill.

To ensure the future of Long Island’s farms, buy local and be part of the Peconic Land Trust Farmstand Heritage Celebration.  For a map and guide of Hamptons farm stands you can go to http://www.peconiclandtrust.org/.  And be sure to stop by Pike’s Farm Stand in Sagaponack on Sagg Main Road just south of the Montauk Highway.  The Peconic Land Trust has a table there where you can learn more about preserving this local treasure which has been farmed by the Pike family for over twenty years.

Note that most of these stands only take cash.