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Aquebogue
07/11/19 6:00am

The family tree behind Verderber Nursery is branching out

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John and Maria Verderber and their three children at their family nursery in Aquebogue. (Credit: David Benthal)

There are lots of family businesses on the North Fork, but Verderber Nursery and landscape design company is a literal family tree. Run by husband-and-wife team John and Maria Verderber and their three children, aged 26 to 28, it’s safe to say that a love of horticulture and landscape design runs in the family. 

Headquartered in Aquebogue but with plant-growing operations in Jamesport, Mattituck, Southold and Southampton, the 300-acre Ver Der Ber casts a broad stroke, growing conifers, shade trees, shrubs and perennials for both wholesale and retail usage. Verderber’s diverse Garden Center features a 110-acre nursery space, offering everything from a small $8.99 flowering perennial to a 30-year-old tree selling for $25,000.  (more…)

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Breathe
Greenport
06/19/19 5:55am

Greenport’s Village Blacksmith revives interest in time-honored craft

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Village Blacksmith Thomas Barry. (Credit: David Benthal)

Next time you’re ambling down Front Street in Greenport, turn toward the water at the little red one-room schoolhouse from 1840 and step into the Village Blacksmith Shop — a true Old World feast for the senses. As your eyes take in the lovingly ramshackle space, feel the heat from the glowing 2,000-degree forge, smell the coal soot and singed metal and let your fingertips graze the wrought-iron hooks and gift items scattered about. The soundtrack? A metallic clank-clank-clank as blacksmith Thomas Barry hammers red-hot iron pieces into shape on his anvil. (more…)

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Drink
Riverhead
03/30/19 6:00am

How Ty Llwyd Farm is bringing small-batch raw milk to the North Fork

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Chris Wines tends to the animals on his family’s farm in Riverhead (Credit: David Benthal)

The North Fork is known for its independently owned vineyards, breweries and distilleries, but there’s a small-batch beverage you might be overlooking: milk. 

Ty Llwyd Farm in Riverhead is the North Fork’s only producer of raw, unpasteurized milk — known for its creamier taste and added health benefits. And like other local craft beverages, it’s got a loyal, almost cult-like following.  (more…)

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Eat
North Fork
03/11/19 5:59am

North Fork Table and Inn’s Claudia Fleming is still cooking with love

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Cover subject Claudia Fleming of The North Fork Table & Inn at Magic Fountain in Mattituck. (Credit: David Benthal)

North Fork Table and Inn culinary power couple Claudia Fleming and Gerry Hayden’s story was one of true love, in the kitchen and out. But when her husband lost his battle with ALS at just 50 years old in 2016, Fleming found herself having to go it alone — in the kitchen and in life. As she grows into her new role, the award-winning chef, cookbook author and North Fork culinary icon is tweaking her recipe for success. (more…)

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Breathe
North Fork
03/09/19 6:00am

Her art is meant to be erased, but Kara Hoblin wants to build communities that last forever

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Photographer David Benthal captures artist Kara Hoblin at the beach.

For someone who works in a medium as ephemeral as chalk, Kara Hoblin definitely leaves a permanent impression. Not only is she one of the North Fork’s most visible artists (you can spot her standing on a restaurant bar creating one of her signature public chalk installations), but she’s also known as a major connector — creating a tight-knit community of artists and the public.  (more…)

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Featured
North Fork
03/05/19 5:57am

Hadley Wiggins-Marin is most at home among the eclectic vintage objects at North Found & Co.

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Hadley Wiggins-Marin has a two-pronged North Fork business featuring interior design services and a vintage general store. Photographer David Benthal chose to photograph her at the historic Vail-Leavitt Music Hall in downtown Riverhead. (Credit: David Benthal)

North Found & Co. deals in found objects and, in a sense, Hadley Wiggins-Marin is one of them. 

Before the North Fork “found her,” she had no history with the area and, despite growing up in New York City, had always summered on (gasp!) Martha’s Vineyard. But 10 years ago, while casually house-hunting in Sag Harbor with her Italian then-boyfriend, now her husband, an astute realtor redirected them to the North Fork. The couple toured five homes in one day, closed on one three weeks later, then showed up at their 1920s New Suffolk farmhouse on a motorcycle with no furniture.  (more…)

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