Photos from the 5th Annual

Long Island Garlic Festival

Sept 27 & 28, 2008

 

We had a pretty good garlic harvest this year - we mounded it up on our wagon after pulling it out of the ground, then took it to the farmstand to hang and dry. The secret is composted horse manure and lots of mulch in the wintertime. It's great to see lots of people starting to grow garlic, with the help of information they got at our festival. CLICK HERE to read our 2008 festival "Garlic Info" brochure, with planting instructions.	The weather was cloudy, but warm, still, mostly dry weather prevailed and people came out in droves to enjoy the food, music and vendors.
Garden of Eve farm apprentice Jamie pours tasting flights of Bridge Vineyards wines. One of Bridge Vineyards' owners, Greg Sandor, is a Community Supported Agriculture member of ours!	Manorville Garleyman Tom Stock gives Puppet Garleyman a ride down the slide, as interested kids watch. Tom amazed young audiences once again with his puppet shows and garlic crafts, as well as with garlic he grows (and eats) at Sow Love Reap Joy Farm.
Vince Cirasol and his wife of 50 years are gardeners in Amityville. They got rid of their lawn and filled their whole backyard with garlic and come each year to sell it at the festival. It's beautiful! Vince is also on the statewide board of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of NY,  which the LI Garlic Fest raises money for.	Musician Bruce Macdonald performing Bluegrass with fiddler Dan Skibeikas in the background. Other musicians over the two days included the Terry Winchell Band, Brady Rymer, Skip Bement, Stateside, and Warren McKnight. CLICK HERE to read more about the bands.
Besides garlicky gyros, shish kebab, french fries, blooming onions, and other typical festival food, Exotic Superfoods store from Queens brought their all-vegan, raw menu including raw pizza and tacos, and delicious "avocado boats"!	Atlantica restaurant of Westhampton Beach and chefs Julie and Todd Jacobs treated us to the second year of their incredible garlicky mashed potatoes, homemade marinara sauces, and intense chocolate brownies (no garlic involved). Julie is also a vendor at the Westhampton Beach Farmers Market, along with our farm and other Garlic Fest vendors Biophilia Farm, Paumanok Preserves, Christine's Concoctions, and Saturday's Soap. The market is every Saturday from June through October from 9am-1pm.
Pickles are a must-have for any self-respecting garlic festival. Nick Horman added extra garlic to ours this weekend, and won 2nd prize in the cookoff.	Kids love to feed the goats, sheep and chickens, and we took them inside the coop to collect the eggs (below).
Spinners Christine of Greenport fiber store Now and Zen, and Diane Pionegro of the Smithtown Historical Society and Smithtown Spinners Guild, showed festivalgoers how to spin beautiful wools into yarn, and also had their handmade goods for sale.