The sun set on summer with Labor Day earlier this week and autumn will officially be here on Sept. 23.
But we will still have the bright sunny faces of sunflowers adorning some of the North Fork farm fields thanks to the careful planning and diligence of Aquebogue farmer Paul Reeve of Bayview Farms and Market on Main Road and Sound View Farms and Market on Sound Avenue.
He plants a special hybrid variety that he said is an easy crop to maintain and is bred to last longer.
They are so popular among customers that “we can’t cut them fast enough,” he said.
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He plants his fields — from one-acre to one and a 1/2 acres — every seven days. It takes the plants 68 days to come to maturity and he puts in around 13 plantings a season. Wednesday evening he showed off a field behind the farm stand with plants now 10 inches tall. They should be producing flowers by Columbus Day, he said.
At some fields, like the one in Aquebogue, he doesn’t cut the flowers, but leaves them for customers to enjoy and take photos of.
“It is a beautiful crop,” he said.
See more photos below.
