A Farmer’s Market For Kent

James Sullivan, who hopes to make a going concern of the Kent Farmer’s Market, with one of his collection of tractors. Michael Brendan Dougherty Kent farmer James Sullivan has a motto: “Help the American farmer, feed the American people.” Over the past 18 months, Sullivan has been diligently organizing a new farmer’s market, which will debut in Kent in the second Saturday of May, and run every weekend through October.

“The idea of a farmer’s market is to keep the community close,” said Sullivan, “ to have fresh products and to support local farming.” Sullivan won’t denounce the chain grocery stores directly, though he said that receiving lettuce from a country 6,000 miles away can’t create “that connection between the table, the farmer, and the local land.”

“We’re one of the only towns that don’t have the farmer’s market,” said Kent Supervisor Kathy Doherty, “He approached me last year, and we all thought it was a good idea.”

“We’re trying to look for different reasons for people to come into Kent,” said Doherty. The market will be located at the old Kent Recreation Center on Route 52, the former headquarters of Kent’s police force. Sullivan has plans for parking, handicapped parking, and slots for 18 vendors at the site.

To add one twist, Sullivan plans on keeping the Kent Farmer’s Market open for two days on holiday weekends such as 4th of July Weekend, and Labor Day. “You have to do something different,” said Sullivan.

“Agriculture has been in my blood since my early teens,” said Sullivan. Raised in Putnam Valley, Sullivan judges local 4-H fairs. During his years at Lakeland High School, he was president of the Future Farmers of America. “No college,” said Sullivan, “ I went to the school of hard knocks, right out into the soil.”

Sullivan has even raised consciousness about agriculture in Putnam. Last month in Carmel, he gave a 20-minute speech on organic gardening to a group of master gardeners. “Agriculture is one of the biggest and the most important industries. It’s meat, dairy, and produce—without which we can’t sustain ourselves,” said Sullivan. “We just have to promote it.”

In 1996, Sullivan bought his own farm property on Horse Pound Road in Kent. There he has two greenhouses, where he raises vegetable plants and works on grafting his Japanese maple trees. “You are cloning your favorite piece on another plant,” explained Sullivan, “I picked it up over the years, it’s really a lost art.” Also at his farm, Sullivan restores antique tractors, one of which he plans to run in this weekend’s St. Patrick’s Day parade in Mahopac.

Although Sullivan says that lining up vendors has been slow, he is confident that over time, Kent’s Farmer’s Market will grow large. “It’s going to be selfsustaining,” he said. “Farmers will see that Putnam has a high-density population, and that there is a market for locally grown goods here.”

The Kent Farmer’s Market will “connect the dots across Putnam,” according to Sullivan, complementing already wellestablished markets in Brewster and Cold Spring. “We need something in the center of Putnam,” said Sullivan, “everyone wants fresh eggs, fresh produce. There is no reason we can’t do this here.”

With the infectious energy of Sullivan behind the task, there is no doubt about that.