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Riverhead Farmers Market

Lucy Senesac at the Riverhead Farmers Market in 2015. (Credit: Jen Nuzzo)

The indoor Riverhead Farmers Market will return to downtown Riverhead next month in a new location.

The market is moving into 54 East Main Street, which was previously a consignment shop. It is just a few steps down the road from its former location at 17 East Main Street and is similar in size, but comes with an added luxury the old space lacked: heat.

“Last year, and the year before, the market wasn’t heated — it wasn’t even an option,” said Lucy Senesac, farm manager at Sang Lee Farms in Peconic who helped organize the re-opening of the market in conjunction with Long Island Greenmarket. “It will be more comfortable for people to walk around, especially in the deep winter.”

This is the second season the Riverhead Farmers Market is operating without sponsorship from the Riverhead Business Improvement District Management Association. The organization announced last year that it would no longer host the event after three years. Senesac — who is also one of the winter market vendors — teamed up with Bernadette Martin, director of Long Island Greenmarket, to ensured the market would continue.

“The reason why I have been helping with it is because it is important for our business,” she said. “The Riverhead location allows us to serve people who are farther west. Riverhead is a hub in between in the forks so it is an important outlet.”

Long Island Greenmarket, an organization that is dedicated to bringing farm products and healthy foods to local communities on Long Island, has agreed to cover the monthly rent, but Senesac is open to the possibility of holding fundraisers for the market to help pay for any additional overhead costs of the indoor space.

“The goal is for it to be sustainable,” she said.

The market will open on Small Business Saturday, Nov. 24, and will run Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. until the end of April.

Many of the previous Riverhead Farmers Market vendors — such as Browder’s Birds, Sang Lee and Mecox Bay Dairy — will return this year, and more are encouraged to apply. The vendor application can be found here.

The Riverhead Farmers Market was the only indoor winter market serving the North Fork — until now. The Greenport Farmers Market is opening in a brick-and-mortar space for the first time. That market will open on Saturday, Nov. 17 in the village. Get all the details.

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