- Briermere Farms - You’ll Flip For This Without Any Preservation! -

BY DANNY McCARTHY

Over the years having been a Southold resident since 1988 I have gone onward to Riverhead and stopped by?Briermere Farms?only to be amazed. As a matter of fact, one of my archives patrons who resides in Florida came to Southold to meet with me regarding Southold Founding Fathers’ ancestral-related information. This lady’s name is Barbara Baker Pierson. She graciously let me know that she and her mom and her mom’s childhood friend made sure to go up west and capture?Briermere Farms. Barbara took some pictures at the farm. Barbara also remarked that the “jams were so fresh and chock full of fruit and that everyone got a different flavor and they all loved them.” She let me know too that she is interested in hearing about?Briermere Farms?and its history. I know I won't get into any jam by having the opportunity of doing this!

????As seasons go by, certain times arrive for abundance. The establishment called Briermere Farms is the business located at 4414 Sound Avenue in Riverhead where true home-grown flair, flavor(s), and real out-and-out style don’t stand alone. You’ll be absolutely overjoyed not only upon arrival but you will get a taste delivered just from the bounteous aromas surrounding the grounds. It definitely makes sense to stop on by. You will find yourself saying “Thanks a lot!” to the folks who maintain this property.

?“I’m Be-Sod Myself!” ~ “Relatively Speaking!”

Ralph Gardner Jr in the July 6, 2010 The Wall Street Journal says that Briermere Farms is located a few miles east of “Mike Delea’s Greenlawn Sod Farms” on Sound Avenue in Riverhead. Briermere Farms?“has been around since 1901 but it didn’t start to develop into the local legend it is today until the early 1960s, when Clark McCombe’s parents and his German grandmother with her Old World recipes moved out from the city, bought the farm and started making pies and jams with excess fruit.” Clark McCombe “runs the fruit- and vegetable-growing operation while his brothers Michael and Philip run the farm stand and bakery.”

?“For Goodness Sake!”

Erica Marcus wrote in the October 18, 2011 Newsday: “According to Clark McCombe, almost all of the fruit is grown right there on the farm -- out-of-season fruit is frozen – and pies are baked every day by a staff, this time of year, {October}, of 10 to 12 people.”

Editorially Speaking ~ “That’s What Friends are For!”

Edible East End and Edible Long Island magazines’ editor Eileen Duffy proudly shared in the Fall 2011 Edible East End magazine about Queens resident and Greenest New Yorker Erik Baard who brought 19 children to Briermere Farms. The children came from the charity called Hour Children {“The (Long Island City) charity takes care of children of mothers who are incarcerated, housing them, and aiding the families’ transition to independent living.”} It’s something to note that “Many of these kids had never seen a farm. Let alone a beach-plum bush.”

????Clark McCombe remarked: “Beach-plums are fickle.” His varieties are yellow sometimes when ready to be picked but they are at their best “when {they are} the color of a red wine grape.” Beach plums are “not as plagued by birds as grapevines are.”

????“Back at the farm stand, Baard was happy with the outing, and the food experiences the students had garnered. Each child got a cookie and a slushie and packed up their plums to take back to Queens.”

?Perhaps It Doesn’t Stand Alone

Edible East End Summer 2012 issue author Gwendolen Groocock stated in the North Fork Farm Stands Part II article: “the farm was started by a Cornell entomologist in 1901.” A brochure that is available at Briermere Farms?says: “In 1894 entomologist Frank Atwood Sirrine was appointed from the Cornell agricultural research station in upstate Geneva New York to examine pests and problems encountered by Long Island farmers.” He “recognized that the island’s climate might well be suited to growing many types of fruit, as well as vegetables.” “In 1901 he purchased a hilly farm in Northville, along Long Island Sound. The rolling fields, overtaken by thorny bull briars and spiny honey locusts – he {Mr. Sirrine} named Briermere. Over the years, the fields were cleared and planted with apples, peaches, pears, and berries.” I also learned from Ms. Groocock’s article that “Briermere also does about 30 preserves, including hard-to-find specialties like gooseberry, elderberry and cranapple. Cut flowers and a variety of local and {non-local-produce}{are} also available.”

?There’s A Recipe For This and That!

Michael Hejmej reported online in the July 27, 2013 Riverhead Local that the McCombe family “have farmed the 200-plus acre terrain, which extends from the back of the bakery down to the Long Island Sound, planting a variety of fruits and vegetables, many of which are used daily in their baking.” “Everything from farming to all the recipes created by {Clark McCombe’s} mother and grandmother have stayed the same.” Mr. Hejmej has worked on the farm since 2006 and is now a realtor with Century 21.

?What’s Cookin’?

Ed Puzzle online in the Country Woods at the Colony Preserve website in his Farm to Table For Holiday Desserts entry dated November 3, 2014 said that Clark McCombe expressed: “We’ll still be baking on Thanksgiving morning, trying to make sure that everyone gets their Thanksgiving pie.”

?Here’s a Trombone For You McCombe! ~ I Salute You!

I preserved the thought of getting in touch with Clark McCombe. Hearing from him was like “pie in the sky.” Clark McCombe was a member of the Riverhead High School Class of 1976. He was one of thirty inductees in the Riverhead Chapter of the National Honor Society.

?Getting to the Crust of the Situation!

The crew at Briermere Farms go hands-down to prepare the endless assortment of pastries that become available and are ready-made daily. There actually are day-old items on sale upon visiting for purchase as well.

?Something Not So Out of Site! ~ And Berry, Berry Good!

I’ve learned that “Strawberries symbolize spring and rebirth as well as righteousness and love.”

?To Life L’Chaim! Picture the Thought(s)!

While I was dining in Southold in the Main Street Grill {that is now Southold Maroni's} ~ I met friend Peter Stevens. Pete formerly owned the Greenport Book Scout and he “filled” me in on the fact that the McCombes’ father is Leonard McCombe, a Life photographer. I went ahead and took that further and explored some information.

????Leonard McCombe “joined Life?in 1946 after a stint as a war photographer,” according to the April 10, 1950 Life magazine. He “was given the highest award on the basis of a 10-photograph cross section of his work during the past year” that year {1950}. Essays were also ably composed by this talent.

????Did you know that Marlboro Man {Clarence Hailey Long} was captured first on camera by Leonard McCombe at a Texas panhandle ranch in 1949?

For Sure

That available brochure also states that: “Following professor Sirrine’s death in 1959 at the age of 97, the McCombe family settled at Briermere.” Leonard and Gertrude are the parents and were the original owners and they are now retired. Clark, Michael, and Philip are now the owners.

?You’ve Got Your Orders!

You can contact Briermere Farms by telephone at (631) 722-3931. The website is: https://www.briermere.com/

On Memorial Day 2016, I myself {Danny McCarthy}was able to capture this amazing place! It kinda grows on you!