If you’re a
Long Island resident, you may realize that your home likely sits on property
that was once farmland. When first settled, some three centuries ago, Long Island
was a farming community. But today, split-level homes, strip malls, pharmacies
and fast food restaurants have overtaken much of that fertile land.
Kerber’s Farm is one of the last remaining, original farm stands in the heart of
suburban Long Island and it has a new lease on life. I’m fortunate that through
my association with Edible Long Island,
I continue to make new discoveries about the area I call home.
I first learned
of Kerber’s Farm through a story by Meredith Shanley in the Summer 2014 issue
of Edible Long Island.
Established
as a family farm in 1941, Kerber’s sold eggs, produce and pies on West Pulaski
Road in Huntington for decades before falling on hard times. The property was slated for development but
was purchased last year by Nick Voulgaris III who had grown up in Huntington
and had visited the farm as a child. Voulgaris completely renovated the
building and reopened Kerber’s Farm in the autumn of 2013.
Just moments
from the busy main strip in Huntington Village, a visit to Kerber’s is like an
escape in time to Long Island’s agricultural past. We make a Saturday excursion
for a leisurely lunch and a touch of romantic rural nostalgia.
We enter the
screen door and marvel at the luscious jams and pastries in the bakeshop, and the
vintage photos of an earlier era at Kerber’s.
The mellow sounds of Frank Sinatra fill the room.
At the lunch
counter, we place an order for two fresh lobster rolls and explore the vintage
items on sale, which Kerber’s describes as “found objects.”
There are weathered birdcages, rustic oars, a battered saddle and an oversized antique bread bowl amidst the summer vegetables.
With nowhere
particular to go, we sit for some time in the back garden, enjoying the shade
of towering old pine trees, the silky lobster rolls and the bucolic summer
afternoon.
Chickens
frolic in a coop not far away.
What better way to finish the meal, than with a Salted Caramel ice cream cone?
It’s enough
just to watch the purple hydrangeas sway in the summer breeze. Kerber’s Farm
has served us up a perfect July afternoon, and we’ve not strayed far at all
from home to find it.
“In summer the song
sings itself.”
-- William Carlos
Williams
©2014 T.W. Barritt All Rights Reserved
