Celebrating Family, Community and Festivals, at Lenny Bruno Farm in Manorville

At Lenny Bruno Farm in Manorville, family, community and a love of vegetables keeps the business growing. Originally a potato farm with over 200 acres of potatoes, the farm has grown to also feature Italian specialties and festivals that bring the community together.

Brothers Dominick and Anthony Bruno, the fourth generation to work on the family farm, have begun working to innovate. In the last two years, a variety of festivals have popped up on the farm aimed at creating a place to celebrate local businesses and the seasonal vegetables grown on the farm.

“Most of it was Dom’s thought process,” Anthony Bruno shared. “Just bringing what we are growing in the field and showcasing it to the public. Instead of just a general festival, he targeted what was specifically in season.”

The festivals feature local businesses including Westhampton Beach Brewing Company, which makes a custom cask of beer with flavors inspired by the theme of each festival. Local food trucks work with the farm, using produce grown on the farm in their specials.

A Sweet Summer Festival took place in early August, focusing on melons, sweet corn and sunflowers. Westhampton Beach Brewing Company created a watermelon summer ale with orange peel zest for the festival, and corn eating and watermelon eating contests showcased the fresh produce offered on the farm.

On September 21 and 22, Lenny Bruno Farms will host its very own San Gennaro Festival.

“We do thousands of bushels of tomatoes for retail,” said Dominick Bruno, who explained many community members purchase tomatoes here to make and jar red sauce. “And people have always asked us to do something like this.”

The grassy area of the farm stand will be filled with local vendors, including La Parma of Huntington and other local artisan vendors. The weekend is full of Italian specialties made with produce from the farm and cannoli and zeppole for a sweet treat. The event will also feature performances by Cristina Fontanelli. The sausage and peppers sold at the event will be crafted from peppers and onions from the farm, and the pasta e fasule uses Lenny Bruno cranberry beans. “And everything that the people are making, they have to use our vegetables,” Dominick added. “It’s a true farm-to-table event.”

In October, the farm is full of pick-your-own pumpkins and hosts what Dominick describes as a monthlong festival with fall-themed events every weekend. The corn maze has already been prepped. The farm works to host an inclusive haunted maze, allowing children with disabilities to participate as well in collaboration with Inclusive Sports and Fitness of Holbrook, and the farm provides wheelchairs that make the maze accessible.

The Bruno family has grown pumpkins and hosted the pick-your-own in October for years, but Dominick said the fall festival was inspired by loyal customers who expressed that they didn’t want to go to a different farm for fall celebrations.

This love for their customers inspired a final festival as the end of their season approaches — during the last weekend of October the Bruno family likes to take time to celebrate the local community. The goal is to celebrate the local community and hometown heroes.

The farm opened during the Great Depression after Dominick Bruno, an immigrant from Naples, Italy, began farming to support his family, and each generation has grown the farm and innovated. His son, Lenny, went to serve in World War II and turned the farm into a business after his return. The family used money that Lenny sent home from the military to grow the farm and purchase more land.

The festivals also feature an educational hayride hosted by this generation’s Dominick, showcasing how different vegetables are grown on the farm, aimed at teaching customers where their food comes from.

“He is passionate about farming,” Teresa Bruno said of her husband, Dominick. “He loves to show people how things are grown.”

When asked by a customer if the gorgeous bright red heirloom tomatoes by the register were local, Dominick was quick to correct him — “They are not just local, they are mine,” he said.

More than anything, Dominick focuses on the fact that this is a working farm, and growing fruits and vegetables and even sunflowers is the focus. The Bruno family looks to their Italian heritage for inspiration for their crops. Bushels of tomatoes, peppers and eggplants fill their farm stand in addition to baked goods and flowers.

All of the Bruno siblings have been working on the farm since they could walk, the same as their father. A wall of framed family photos shows the history of the business. Now, a fifth generation has started helping out, working the register during summer break.