Big Plans for Two Tiny Plots

The Bridgehampton School is the official tenant of two tiny plots of land that comprise the farm stand just east of the school after the district signed leases last week.

One parcel is owned by the Babinski family and the other is managed by the Hampton Classic on behalf of several owners. Both were leased to the Small Potato Nursery for many years until it was determined that the selling of Christmas trees and topiary not grown there was not permitted according to Southampton Town zoning rules. The lease on the Babinski property will cost $3,000 per year; the other is coming free of charge. The district signed three-year leases on both.

Judiann Carmack-Fayyaz and Jeff Neubauer, two teachers, have plans to lead an agribusiness program for students based on a pick-your-own-bouquet sale of flowers that will be grown there. David Falkowski, a local farmer, has said he plans to help out. The two teachers are also seeking community volunteers and donations to supplement the $6,000 that Paddlers for Humanity pledged for a new shed.

All that remains before the Bridgehampton students can begin using the plots this summer is approval from the New York State Education Department, which is expected within a couple of weeks, according to Ms. Carmack-Fayyaz.

“It’s very exciting,” she said. “We’re going slowly, because the Department of Education said this is the first time that they’re seeing this. I don’t think another school has done this in quite the same way. It’s very cool.”

The students are trying to come up with a name for the business. They have rejected Cool Beans, Farmasea, Sprouts, and the Patch.

“It is a work in progress, and we are hopeful that it can become a real program of value,” Lois Favre, Bridgehampton’s superintendent, said in an email. “We appreciate the generosity of the Babinskis and the Hampton Classic, as well as Paddlers for Humanity . . . in supporting our innovative ideas.