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Country View Farm stand II (Credit: Barbaraellen Koch)

Country View Farm stand II (Credit: Barbaraellen Koch)
Kevin Polak and his wife Donna of Cutchogue have been selling ramps grown by his brother Billy in Aquebogue.
Kevin Polak and his wife Donna have been selling ramps grown by his brother Billy in Aquebogue. (Credit: Barbaraellen Koch)

I was driving on Main Road in Southold last week when two things grabbed my attention: A farm stand freshly painted the colors of a John Deere tractor and a sign out front that read “local ramps.” 

I stopped in to Country View Farm Stand II to inquire and met the daughter of the farmers, Jessica Polak, 27, of Cutchogue. She told me her uncle, Billy Polak of Aquebogue, grew them for the first time this spring and they have been flying off the shelves, even at $4.50 a bunch. She said she puts them in everything from omelets to soup. Her mother, Donna Polak, likes to sauté them with local spinach.

Polak said he planted the ramps on a whim this March after seeing them in a seed catalog. He didn’t plant much, but may plant a bit more next year. The local ramps are gone for the season, but they could get some from an upstate farm to last a couple more weeks.

The farm stand had previously been run by Donna Polak’s mother, Barbara Pelis of Riverhead, for 12 years and was called “Barb’s Veggies.” Donna and Kevin Polak took it over this spring, renaming it Country View II after their Country View Farm Stand a few miles east on Main Road, which they’ve owned since 2011. The Polaks plant on 15 acres in Cutchogue and five acres behind the farm stand in Southold.

Farmer Kevin and his brother Billy are fourth generation farmers and all the family members work at both stands along with some help from friends. A chalkboard on the wall of the stand tells customers what’s local this time of year. It includes asparagus, spring onions, leeks, rhubarb, spinach, many kinds of herbs, honey, eggs, Crescent duck, Schmitt’s horseradish and Goodale’s cheeses.

The farm stand is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. seven days a week.

See more photos below:

Country View Farm stand II (Credit: Barbaraellen Koch)
Country View II farmstand. (Credit: Barbaraellen Koch)
Jessica Polak puts ramps in everything from omelettes to soups (Credit: Barbaraellen Koch)
Jessica Polak puts ramps in everything from omelets to soups (Credit: Barbaraellen Koch)
Local rhubarb, spring onions, leeks and asparagus at Country View II farmstand on the Main Road in Southold (Credit: Barbaraellen Koch)
Local rhubarb, spring onions, leeks and asparagus at Country View farmstand on Main Road in Southold. (Credit: Barbaraellen Koch)

Your North Fork Sunday Scene features weekly snapshots of life on Long Island’s top fork.

Previous North Fork Sunday Scenes:

First strawberries at Catapano Farms

National mammal in Riverhead

Rainy days at Biophilia Organic Farm

Blooming in Baiting Hollow

Riding in Laurel

Spring plowing at Sang Lee Farms

Baby chicks in Riverhead

Early spring blooms

Peacocks in Southold

Roaming the pasture at McCall Vineyards and Ranch

A Southold ‘Renaissance’ man

Winter at the Beach

Sunset over the Sound

An early harbinger of spring

A field of geese? Look again

A North Fork snow day

A New Suffolk Ave. sunset drive

Icicles form at Iron Pier Beach

Birds of many feathers in Riverhead

Blanket-wrapped horses

Katahdin sheep in Jamesport

Late fall harvest at Andrews Family Farm

Feisty Acres quail farm

Fall art in the fields

North Fork fall foliage

Healing with Horses

Harvest is coming

CSA pickup day at Biophilia

A postcard from Love Lane

Bring on summer

A stroll down Oregon Road

‘Zenful’ flowers in Baiting Hollow

Hello from this North Fork mama and her babies

North Fork asparagus is here

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