RIPE FOR PICKING: Clockwise from left, tomatoes, one of the veggies being planted in private gardens across the Hamptons; keeping bees is a pastime for the more adventurous homesteader; foxgloves and other flowers at the Green Thumb farm in Water Mill benefit from biodynamic practices.
Brooks recalls that even when her children were tiny, they helped make biodynamic seeds for feeding the garden. And that, she points out, is one of the great pleasures of gardening—teaching one’s children to engage with the land. “I think it’s just so important. It was one of my earliest pleasures growing my own peas. I just think it’s something all children need to get to do.” As Jo Halsey says of the new homesteading spirit: “It’s really nice that people are getting their hands dirty and the sun on their face. I think that’s a beautiful thing, getting in touch with the earth. Nothing wrong with that.” JULY—AUGUST 2020 | AVENUE MAGAZINE
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