Not only was the highly popular Sidor Farms sunflower maze located in Mattituck off County Route 48 back this summer and fall for its third year, but other fields of sunflower fields popped up across the North Fork this year as hundreds flocked to enjoy the bright yellow rows of flowers each day.
At Sidor Farms, Sidor sisters – Cheryl and Maureen – opened their five acres to visitors not once but twice this year, the first time for a late-summer bloom and again for a fall bloom. The sisters have been growing sunflowers at the site, located at the intersection of Wickham Ave., Elijahs Lane, and Route 48 in Mattituck, for several years. They tried out doing a sunflower maze once in 2012 and, after a six-year hiatus, decided to bring it back for the 2018 season when they realized passersby kept pulling over to snap pictures.
This year, photographers were able to book private one-hour time slots every day from 8 to 9 a.m. before the maze was opened to the public, for engagement shoots or family portraits. The private sessions, which started at $75, were also available for proposals, yoga and meditation, even a painting session.
New to the sunflower scene this year was Rottkamp’s Fox Hollow Farm located off Sound Avenue in Calverton. After opening at the end of June, about 200 to 250 people a day had visited, Jeff Rottkamp, one of the owners, said. The fields were open until October with different sections of the farm in bloom at a time.
Despite its name, the maze is more of a pathway. “You’re not going to get lost. The rows kind of intersect,” Rottkamp said. “The pathway is random; I just drove around with the machine.”
Three other sunflower fields that visitors and locals alike flocked to this season were located at Pindar Vineyards in Peconic, Schmitt Farm Stand in Riverhead, and Garden of Eve Farm in Riverhead.
