When A Farm Stand Is The Retirement Plan

On a sunny day before the busy holiday weekend, Open Minded Organics opened up its first-ever farm stand. Although owner Dave Falkowski called it a “soft launch,” it seemed to be anything but as a steady stream of cars stopped by the quaint wooden building just off Butter Lane in Bridgehampton.Terry McSweeney, a Sag Harbor resident, brought his children for the opening day.

“The first time I came here, I got a sunflower,” said Caitlin McSweeney, 11. Thanks to a school garden, she and her brother are interested in farming.

Today, the children were given tastes of the stand’s made-to-order fresh juice. Caitlin dubbed the maroon-colored liquid, featuring beets from the farm, “not bad,” although she would rather drink fruit juice, something Mr. Falkowski hopes to roll out in the next few weeks.

“We’re not hiring someone to open a stand, this is an extension of me,” he said. The plan is that either he or his wife, Ashley Falkowski, will always be at the stand to greet already established customers or explain to newer folks the Falkowskis’ growing practices and holistic philosophy.

With a decidedly hip vibe, the farm stand features all of Open Minded Organic’s produce along the back, from cucumbers to three kinds of kale. The interior is decorated with personal touches like a geological survey of Bridgehampton and measurements of the Falkowskis’ daughter and cousins etched into the wall with red ink. An inconspicuous woodcut of a trippy mushroom hangs above the door.

Behind the counter, dried mushrooms and peppers are organized into clear glass jars, with tinctures designed for health and wellness lining the counter. The display takes the heart of the business—mushrooms—and raises them to a level of professionalism beyond the hippie, homegrown vibe that one might usually associate with fungi.

Anthony Areostatico, 48, a private chef, stopped by to pre-order a pound of shitakes for the next day. Mr. Areostatico, who has worked on the East End since 2000, described the farm stand as “the place to be” for quality food and fresh produce.

“You don’t have to adjust the flavors that much, it is all there,” Mr. Areostatico explained. He planned to roast the shitakes to put atop a barbecue-charred pizza with mascarpone cheese, a recipe he described as “very rustic.”

Mr. Falkowski, who’s been making the farmers market circuit with his mushrooms for more than 12 years, said he is happy to have built a strong client base to support the new farm stand seven days a week, and that eventually he would like the facility to account for half of his overall business. The overhead is much lower at the stand, as it requires less labor, considering that the vegetables have to be transported only 20 feet from the field. “I can’t keep grinding it out” at farmers markets, said Mr. Falkowski, who jokingly described the farm stand as a retirement plan of sorts.

“We’re tired of lugging 20 crates of watermelon,” Ms. Falkowski said in agreement. “Now I have a place to put them.” She plans to plant pumpkins next year because they are more cost-effective to sell at the farm stand. “If they don’t sell, then I don’t have to bring it back to the farm,” she said.

With a new venue for their produce, Ms. Falkowski said, they would like more land, at least 5 acres, so they can grow their own organic fruits in the future.

Another issue the Falkowskis face is finding skilled employees and being able to pay them decent wages. With a lack of affordable housing, it can be very costly for workers to live on the South Fork. Although Mr. Falkowski is dedicated to paying his employees a fair wage, he said, “it’s not like landscaping where I charge $40 and pay someone $20 an hour.”

Prominently featured at the stand is an array of local products, from Southampton Soap Co. (which created a signature minty OMO soap for Open Minded Organics) to marshmallows from Dawn’s Delight’s in Montauk. Most of the included artisans, like Backyard Brine Pickle Co., met the Falkowskis through farmers markets on the East End. An off-the-cuff partnership with Backyard Brine last summer—the two were stationed next to each other at a market—resulted in Brine’s Rowdy Pepper Pickles this year.

“We’re trying to support other local people, because they have supported us,” Ms. Falkowski said.

A Pennsylvania native, Ms. Falkowski grew up gardening with her grandfather. Farming “isn’t for everybody,” she said, “but working behind a desk isn’t either.”

Open Minded Organics hosts middle school students from the nearby Ross School as well as offering tours to regional home-schooling groups. The Falkowskis believe it is important that kids know where their food comes from, a lesson that they hope to impart to their 2-year-old daughter.

“People don’t realize that potatoes don’t come from a bush,” Ms. Falkowski said. “They come from underground.”