New lavender farm blossoms on Sound Avenue in Riverhead
A fragrant new business has taken root on the North Fork. Saltwater Farm (3360 Sound Ave., Riverhead, 631-922-7803) recently opened at the corner of Roanoke and Sound Avenues, where you’ll find a 22-acre lavender farm and shop stocked with all things lavender.
For owner Anne Cynar, the farm is the realization of a lifelong dream. After closing on the property in April, the East Hampton resident spent weeks working 14-hour days planting lavender, renovating the shop, sourcing and purchasing inventory and hiring staff in time for a Memorial Day Weekend opening.
Cynar grew up in Paris with a French mother and an American father and lavender fields in the south of France were a familiar sight to her. “During my childhood I spent many summers in Provence, home of the world’s largest and most famous lavender fields … this is where my love of lavender was born,” she says.
She spent years searching for the right property to realize her dream.
“The particular farm that we ended up buying is perfect for us in every way because it has everything we wanted: an existing lavender field; road frontage on a road that’s heavily traveled yet charming; an established farm store on a corner lot with a red light and it’s on Long Island in the most beautiful agricultural region, surrounded by gorgeous farms,” Cynar says.
The name Saltwater Farm pays homage to the North Fork’s agricultural heritage and its unique geography, surrounded by Long Island Sound and Peconic Bay.
Saltwater Farms opened on Memorial Day Weekend this year. (Credit: Stephanie Villani)
Currently, the farm has over 3,000 lavender plants, including three varieties of English lavender and two varieties of French lavender; the plants bloom from mid-June through late July. Cynar plans to add another 200 plants later this season, with additional expansion next spring.
