Who knew so much went into drying flowers? I sure didn’t until I read Stephanie VIllani’s thoroughly fun and informative piece on the North Fork Flower Farm in Southold, from the origin story all the way to the building of their new barn. How cool is it that three couples found common ground, both literally and figuratively, in their love of the East End and in the notion of growing flowers en masse? Drianne Benner, Kevin Perry, Karen Brazier, Charles Sherman and Al and Raquel Martinez-Fonts found each other like you do out here — as neighbors or compatriots at a community meeting.
But it was their bonding over flower power that cemented a unique business that’s found a happy home here. So much so, that demand created the need for an entirely larger space to work, dry and house their blossoms. The new barn, a beauty of a structure, was designed by Perry, an architect by trade, who made a space conducive to the needs of the fresh and dried flower biz, with just the right light, airflow, room to work and even teach classes to the flower-curious.
At almost 10 years in, the North Fork Flower Farm is the kind of unique business that’s so very akin to the area — long may their petals wave.
Amy Zavatto is the Editor-in-Chief for southforker, northforker and Long Island Wine Press. She's a wine, spirits, and food journalist whose work appears in Wine Enthusiast, InsideHook.com, MarthaStewart.com, the New York Post, Liquor.com, SevenFifty Daily, Imbibe, Men’s Journal and many others. She's the author of The Big Book of Bourbon Cocktails, Prosecco Made Me Do It: 60 Seriously Sparkling Cocktails, Forager’s Cocktails: Botanical Mixology with Fresh, Natural Ingredients, and The Architecture of the Cocktail. She is a respected judge for the American Craft Spirits Association’s annual small-production spirits competition, and has moderated numerous panels on the topics of wine, spirits, cocktails, and regional foodways. She is the former Deputy Editor for the regional celebratory publications, Edible Manhattan and Edible Brooklyn, as well as the former Executive Director of the Long Island Merlot Alliance. She is a member of the New York chapter of the international organization of women leaders in food, wine, and spirits, Les Dames d’Escoffier. The proud daughter of a butcher, Amy is originally from Shelter Island, N.Y., where she developed a deep respect for the East End’s natural beauty and the importance of preserving and celebrating it and its people.
