A Day in the Life: The Shelter Island Havens House Farmer’s Market

Another in our continuing series on Island institutions.

On Saturday mornings from May through October, the parking lot and grounds of the Shelter Island History Center are transformed from a pre-Revolutionary War farmhouse with a lawn and an old barn, into a bustling, pop-up market, the center of Island life and commerce.  Here’s what happened at the Havens House Farmer’s Market on Saturday, June 15, 2024.

7:55 a.m. Vendors arriving

This year, the market is managed by Kim and Erik Curko, and they are among the first to set up their booth, By Way of the Farm Candle Co., ahead of the 9 a.m. opening. Kim’s scented candles have nature-themed decorative touches and come in an assortment of fragrances such as “Wades Beach” and “Reel Point. It’s morning, but already hot enough to convince me that a fresh scent may be welcome in a couple of hours.

Blue Duck Bakery is usually the first booth set up and the first to sell out, and already a complete array of baked goods are brown, crispy and tantalizing. Baker’s Assistant August tells me, as she reaches to catch her sign suddenly airborne on a gust of humid wind, “It’s a lot of work to make it pretty without rushing myself. It was all baked this morning.”

8:05 a.m. Need coffee

Lydia Martinez has the Stars Café booth ready to go, and thank goodness, because most of her customers at this hour for coffee, egg burritos, and biscotti are her fellow-vendors — and there’s a line.

Fresh Factor Juice has been making cold press juice for five years, but this is Curtis Redding and daughter Nyonni’s first year at the Havens Market.

Drawn to the incredible, edible colors of their juices (yellow from bell pepper, red from strawberries and beets, orange with carrots), Curtis hypnotized me with talk of their “ginger shot,” which I will deploy the next time I need to build immunity and get my body’s attention naturally. In case you’re wondering, as I was, Curtis and Nyonni are related to the great Otis Redding, so you should enjoy their juices while sitting on a dock.

8:35 a.m. You have to get up pretty early in the morning …

With 25 minutes until the market opens, a man known only as Rust, cheesemonger and owner of Consider Bardwell Farm, was not close to being set up. Wheels of cheese, mustards and charcuterie were there but, “I probably forgot something,” he said. “I woke up late and had to rush.” In spite of the hectic morning, he looks forward to the market. “It’s my social life. I get to meet a lot of people I’d be too timid to talk to otherwise.”

8:40 a.m. In a pickle

A truck is carefully backing into the very tight space between two adjacent booths to unload the wares of the market’s new pickle-person. Hormans Pickles has olives, pickles, red onions, cider, and a truly skilled person at the wheel.

Rachel Stephens grows everything she sells at her Sweet Woodland Farm in Southold. 

Her Elderberry Syrup is especially sought-after as a flavoring and nutritional supplement. It’s made from berries she grows on a 2-acre planting of American Black elderberry, which is native to Long Island. “Each flower looks like a star, and I dehydrate and serve those as a tea.”

8:45 a.m. KK’s The Farm

An East Tennessee accent, coming from the mouth of the farmer at KK’s The Farm, stops me in my tracks. It turns out Gordon is from Johnson City, Tenn. He and Ira Haspel, the owner of KK’s, have been working together for four years, which may be why he knows so much about growing garlic. After serving in the Coast Guard, and living in Cape May, N.J., Gordon met his wife, and they decided to move to Southold in 2020.

The garlic crop is not quite ready, so I buy some snap peas and devour them.

9 a.m. Greetings!

Standing near the market entrance at the stroke of 9 is Alison Binder, the official market greeter. “I come from 9 to 12:30. I enjoy the market.”

9:15 a.m. No traffic copter needed

Maggie Murphy, who oversees the volunteers, directs me to the parking lot to observe the true heroes of the market, the parking attendants. Today it is Frank Emmett and Jeffrey Feingold, who explains, “The reason we do this is because there are not decent lines in the parking lot.”

 Meanwhile, Frank is coaxing a Volkswagen to back into a tight spot. When the driver agrees to try in spite of the lack of a backup camera, Frank says, “Trying is not good enough, madam.” 

Ginny Gibbs and Linda Springer emerge from the groovy vehicle triumphant.

9:15 a.m. Don’t lettuce alone

Wesnofske Farms has lettuce, leeks, romaine, berries, cherries, beets, almost anything that will grow on the North Fork. Joanna Wesnofske, assisted by Anthony Griffin, may see a run today on the zucchini and raspberries, which are new to the market this week. “We should have corn by the Fourth of July,” Joanna says. You heard it here.

9:25 a.m. You can learn a lot at the market

I’m drawn to a pot of herbs in the booth of Pendleton Harvest Moon Farm, where Jocelyn Pendleton explains what I am looking at. In addition to eggs, New York grown- and certified-lamb, she has bush basil. “It’s one of my favorites,” she says. “Such tiny leaves that you don’t have to chop it up.” Then I admire the multi-colored eggs for sale, and Jocelyn informs me that, “The color of the ear flap on my breeds will tell you the color of their eggs.” 

Mind blown.

9:45 a.m. Good to go

There’s always a line at Goodale Farms, but Innocent Komu has the grace and fortitude to stay cool and keep selling those Porterhouse steaks, dill pickles, bacon, chickens, zucchini and berries as fast as possible and no faster. He’s already overcome connectivity problems with his credit card device (possibly caused by my purchase of ricotta and a chicken) so the worst is over.

10 a.m. Sweet music 

Lisa Shaw, Jed Feldman and Tom Hashagen are getting ready to play jazz and bossa nova in a shady corner of the market reserved for local musicians. For the next few hours, Lisa’s vocals, Jed’s flute and Tom’s guitar will entertain shoppers, with tunes like “Chega de Saudade,” and the rambunctious can dance to “Blue Bossa.”

11:15 a.m. Taste of the sea

Customers for Alice’s Fish Market peer into two enormous tubs full of ice at sea bass, large shrimp, fluke, cod, tuna, and whatever is available in bay or beyond. Ryan Purcell was on duty for at least his third year at the Havens Market, selling seafood from Alice’s in Greenport, for owner Nate Phillips, who has attended the market from the beginning. “Tuna comes from out by Montauk,” Ryan announced. “No sword yet.”

Across the way from the fish market, another professional fisherman, Chris Hamilton, is selling a taste of the sea that does not require refrigeration. Hamilton found photography while working on the water on his father’s trawler out of Greenport. He’s been doing both for seven years but says at this point he’s making more money on his photographs of fishing life and scenes at sea, than he does on his fishing. “We have amazing light out here.”

12:20 p.m. Numbers

The market closes in 10 minutes, so Deborah Mintz, volunteering at the check-in table, is adding up the take. “So far, 567 people came today, we sold $400 worth of raffle tickets.”

Thanks to volunteer Kathy Heintzelman, very few potential customers had to be turned away on account of being accompanied by a dog, which is about the only way you could be denied entry to this market. In fact, Kathy still has a leash in her hand, and at the end of it is a small, well-behaved dog whose owner entrusted her as dog-sitter while they shopped. “I sure hope they come back,” Kathy says.

Over at the Shelter Island Senior Citizens Association booth, Joanne Sherman is still spreading the word on support services for seniors. She hands me a refrigerator magnet with the words “File of Life” printed on it with spaces for my age, gender, medications, allergies, etc.  and urged me to use it against the inevitable day when an emergency happens and my mind empties. “Twenty years ago, when I still had my wits about me, we had a medical emergency, and when EMS came and asked me how old Hoot is, I said I have no idea!”

12:30 p.m. Planning the return

The Blue Duck baskets are empty, and Joanna Wesnofske is standing by the lone remaining bunch of basil she has left to sell. “We should have melons in another week or two.”

I’ll be back.