School Garden Grows in Bridgehampton
The Bridgehampton School’s thriving educational garden may itself grow soon, thanks to a free three-year lease of a small piece of land from the Hampton Classic. The agriculturally zoned property, of about a third of an acre, is at the corner of Lockwood Avenue and Montauk Highway, just east of the Small Potato Nursery.
“We’re very, very excited. It’s a big project,” Judiann Carmack-Fayyaz, the teacher who manages the school’s garden and greenhouse, said by phone on Tuesday. “It was sort of a gift, and it was pretty fantastic.”
Ms. Carmack-Fayyaz envisions projects involving biodiversity and preservation of certain species, such as the Long Island cheese pumpkin, which she said is nearly extinct. She also is thinking about a historic “three sisters” garden, growing the traditional Native American crops of corn, squash, and tomatoes, and about flowers, for which there isn’t much room in the existing garden behind the school.
Most of all, Ms. Carmack-Fayyaz said, she is excited about the possibility of entrepreneurship and vocational training, with the area closest to Montauk Highway having a farm stand that sells cuttings, seedlings, and produce that come in abundance from the garden and greenhouse.
The legality of a lease between the Classic and the school district is under consideration by the New York State Education Department. The school district’s attorneys are also working with the Town of Southampton on the specific uses. While the proposal was thought initially to include Small Potato, which sells evergreen topiary and Christmas trees, that land, apparently owned by the Classic, is not included.
Shanette Barth Cohen, the Classic’s executive director, said she was excited about the potential impact the horse show can have on local education. “It’s great for kids to get hands-on experience and see how food grows. I think it’s fantastic,” Ms. Cohen said Tuesday. “We felt it would be a win all around. . . . We know it will be well taken care of, and a lot of kids will benefit from the property.”
However, Elizabeth Linker, who operates the Small Potato farmstand, said yesterday she is extremely upset because she leased the land in question from the Classic for about 20 years and now will likely lose it to the school.
“I certainly didn’t want it to end like this,” Ms. Linker said. “I’ve put a huge amount of money and work into Small Potato and now they’re going to donate that three year lease. . . . They can’t just give the land away like that.”
During the Dec. 16 meeting of the Bridgehampton School Board, Ms. Carmack-Fayyaz said about $35,000 in start-up funding was needed and that she would try to find sponsors and other donors to provide the money. Eventually, the goal would be for the project to be self-sustaining. The primary commitment from the school, she said, would be stipends for the teachers who help run programs beyond their contractual teaching commitments.
The school board was receptive to the idea, Ronnie White, the president of the board, said by phone on Monday. “On so many different levels, it opens up so many opportunities for students and also vocational opportunities for those who are doing academics differently,” he said.