The local papers offer up two items of note this week, both concerning the success of the plethora of farmers markets on the East End. Restos beware.
AMAGANSETT- This week, the Star takes us to Amber Waves Farm, the relatively anonymous plot of land behind Eli Zabar's Amagansett Farmers Market that does much of the farming for its more famous neighbor. Run by two women who were apprentices at nearby Quail Hill Farm, the land ended up in new hands after they submitted a winning proposal to the Peconic Land Trust and were deemed farm-worthy. With Eli Zabar on board, the Amber Waves has begun producing fruits and vegetables and is working towards re-establishing the wheat fields that were once there. [EH Star]
SOUTHAMPTON- In Southampton, the newish/smallish Farmers Market that has set up in the parking lot behind the Parrish Art Museum has plans to expand. Having just completed its fourth week, the market has averaged 400 visitors during the end of the summer and about 200 during the first weekends of the fall. Things will keep going through pumpkin season and hopefully start up next June, with an expanded roster of farmers and less opposition from local businesses who were worried about a drop in sales. With this addition, the Hamptons has officially been overrun with farmers markets, with permanent or part-time ones in Westhampton Beach, Southampton, Bridgehampton, Sag Harbor, East Hampton, Amagansett and Montauk. [SH Press]