On the Farm: Fall Plants and Produce

"Mums the word," farmer Bill Walsh jokingly said Friday as he pointed out the arrival of the fall flowers at Crossroads Farms at Grossmann's in Malverne.

They are inside the hoop house at the farm, which is now owned by Nassau County and operated by the Nassau Land Trust, along with ornamental cabbage, kale and peppers. The plants, grown at Emma's Garden on Long Island, range from $3 to $9.

Next door at the farmer's market you'll also find a wide variety of fresh produce on sale, including many organic crops harvested right here in Malverne such as radish, carrots, fennel, lipstick and bell peppers, three kinds of tomatoes, potatoes, onions, string beans, beets, rainbow chard, eggplant and cow peas.

Crossroads also continues to sell goods from other Long Island farms. This week there are nectarines, blackberries, raspberries, peaches, cataloupe and four different varieties of apples from Wickham's Fruit Farm in Cutchogue, leafy green lettuce from Deer Run Farm in Brookhaven and potatoes from Wesnofski Island End Farm in Peconic.

Inside the farm's refrigerator you can pick up speciality goat cheeses from Catapano Dairy Farm in Peconic and new this week, are organic eggs that come from a farm on the North Shore of Nassau County in Lattingtown.

"They're about as home-grown as you can get," Walsh said.

Corn from a farm in Calverton also continues to sell big, and the market is lined with bottles of locally-made honey, gourmet chips from the North Fork and flowers picked from Crossroads for you to design your own bouquets.

Tom Grech, a member of the Nassau Land Trust's Crossroads Farm committee, also tells us that they're already making plans for the Fall Festival, which will be held in October. In conjunction with the street fair hosted by the Malverne Merchants, the farm will be having hayrides and other activities that day. Stay tuned for more details.

Don't forget to visit Patch every Friday to check in with what's happening at your local farm.