Letters

I am a beekeeper with hives of honeybees in locations across the South Fork. In response to the recent article about a redesignation of Poxabogue Field from farming to open space [“Fate of Southampton Town-Owned Poxabogue Field, Within Sagaponack Village, Is Debated at Town Board Meeting,” 27east.com, September 10], I strongly agree with those in favor of allowing its conversion to grassland to continue officially.

It’s obvious that nature agrees. A wide range of feathered, furred, winged, scaled and assorted other tenants make their homes there. And, as for too many working humans, there are few places left for them on the South Fork.

In the case of Poxabogue Field, fencing and cropping is not an ideal agricultural use. In a wonderful article in The East Hampton Star in April, Chris Gangemi cited Tom Falkowski, who last farmed there in 2016 after a total of 15 or more years, describing half the soil as too light and half as not too bad. Not a ringing endorsement.

I have had both the honor and privilege of watching Tom Falkowski farm for 22 years, since he is one of many farmers who host my bees here on the East End, and one of the best. Always planning, improving, trying new things, he could get more food out of a small amount of ground than ever seemed possible.

So maybe Tom “Wizard Farmer” Falkowski made it work for 15 years. But who else could? Without a fence or irrigation, and with necessary restrictions for pesticide use to protect the pond, as is being suggested?

In a larger sense, agriculture benefits from wild places (think of hedgerows). Birds for pest management. Pollinators for crops. Keeping Poxabogue in grass benefits the surrounding farm fields.

My honeybees, from their hives on Marilee Foster’s fields, forage on Poxabogue Field. A fall nectar flow was once a given out here, with the familiar and often maligned “special goldenrod smell” filling the air. But no more, and not in quite some time.

The Town of Southampton was wise to protect this important parcel. Countless of my former bee yards weren’t so lucky and are now housing humans. But let’s go further and accept that this land might already be fulfilling its highest and best use just as it is. Nature and agriculture should not be either/or, but both/and.

And, lest we forget, a win for nature is truly a win for all.

Mary Woltz

Sag Harbor