Long Island

Garden of Eve Farm
Chris and Eve Kaplan-Walbrecth

1. Where is your farm located and how long have you been farming there?
We have been in Riverhead Long Island since 2001

2. When did you start farming? What motivates you to farm organically?
We started farming in 2001 with a one-acre market garden and lots of zucchini! We now have 25 acres of vegetables and still lots of zucchini. We never considered anything except organic growing, because we couldn't bring ourselves to pour chemicals into the soil. Organic farming is not hard if you're coming into farming for the first time, because you have no preconceptions of the way things are "supposed" to be. If you are used to being dependent on chemicals, organic is probably a lot of work, because you have to pay attention to the plants and the soil a lot more, and plan way ahead (years in advance) for fertility and crop health.

3. How many months a year do you farm?
We basically farm year-round. We have CSA and farmer's markets from June to Thanksgiving, and winter CSA shares from December-March, and seedlings in the greenhouse from March till June.

4. How many crops do you grow, and which ones are you especially proud of?
We grow over 70 varieties of vegetables and 20 varieties of cut flowers. We are especially proud of the specialty and heirloom varieties which taste so incredible that people can't believe it, like Brandywine Tomatoes, Armenian Cucumbers, and Haricot Verts string beans.

5. What is one benefit and one challenge of organic farming and selling products locally?
The biggest challenge is getting people used to the idea that the produce may not look exactly like the produce they buy in the store, but that doesn't mean it doesn't taste as good or better.
Sometimes people think they want to support organic growers, but they want you to make sure they never find a bug in their produce. That's just not possible without using poisons

6. How do you view your relationship to CSA customers?
They are the best. I always tell anyone who listens that CSA is the best example I know of people voting with their pocketbooks. If our CSA members had decided just to go to the store instead, our farm probably wouldn't be around today. And if farms go out of business, farmland turns into housing developments.

7. What is one thing you would like Tuv Ha'Aretz members to know about your farm?
It's not that far from New York City! More of them should come visit, and they should visit more often! We really enjoy getting to know our CSA members and treating them to a relaxing day on the farm. We even have train service direct from Penn Station.