Sylvester Manor / Nov: Farmstand Update / Turkey Plunge / Windmill Lighting, December 3rd, 4 – 5 PM ….

Farm Update

The last CSA pickup is this weekend and some of our farm apprentices have started to depart. We’re very grateful for our strong farm crew – Romi, Sophie, Elias, Jake & April – and we’re hopeful that some of them will continue over the winter and into next season. Thanks to everyone who helped make this year a success, including our incredible group of volunteers, Buildings & Grounds staff, Farmstand staff and YOU, our community members.

Our focus now is on preparing the Farm for winter. We’re harvesting as much as we can before the weather turns and removing any plants and landscape fabric in the fields that we can so that we can turn the fields over and establish our winter cover crop. One crop we still need to plant is garlic (from Co-Founder Bennett’s farm in Maine!), which will start in early November. We’re also busy making sure our livestock – chickens and ducks – are ready for the winter months ahead.

Giving Tuesday is approaching and this year it will feature our Food Access Program, enabling us to grow food specifically for local food pantries. With your help we can put our greenhouses to use this winter, growing food for those in our community who need it most.

Farmstand Update

This is the last call for this season at the Farmstand! Make sure you stop in before we close on November 16 and stock up on all your favorites. We have lots of our own produce, including sweet potatoes, eggplant, carrots, collards, kale and of course, Sylvester Manor eggs, pork and Manor Made products. 

Farmstand Hours
Through November 16
Friday-Sunday
9am-5pm

Trails Closed

From November through February the walking trails will be closed for hunting.

We are working in partnership with the Town of Shelter Island’s Hunting Program to control the deer population. 

Please adhere to the posted TRAILS CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC signs at all times.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Turkey Plunge

Jump in with Team Sylvester Manor for the annual Turkey Plunge at Crescent Beach, in support of the Friends of the Shelter Island Public Library.

For many years running, Sylvester Manor’s Senior Planner Sara Gordon has corralled staff, trustees and friends of the Manor into an intrepid vegetable-wielding crew, backed by Team Kale sponsors, aiming to achieve the top team donations honor. Contact Sara at sgordon@sylvestermanor.org if you want to join the team.

Saturday, November 29
11:00am
Crescent Beach

Giving Tuesday Is December 2

This year, our Giving Tuesday efforts will focus on helping Shelter Island families in need access fresh, healthy foods throughout the winter months. We’re extending our growing season to meet rising food insecurity and ensure our neighbors have nourishing food when it’s needed most. Stay tuned to learn how you can be part of this community effort.

Windmill Lighting

Gather with the community and share in the holiday spirit as we light the 1810 Dominy Windmill. We invite you to celebrate the season and this festive time of year up at the Windmill. Light refreshments will be served. No RSVP necessary, just show up!

Friday, December 5
4:00-5:00pm
Windmill Field

In October, the Zoning Board of Appeals granted our request for a Special Permit to operate our nonprofit entity in the AA Residential Zone, formally recognizing the site’s ongoing transition from a private residence to a public resource with cultural, educational, and farm programming and events in support of our mission to Preserve, Cultivate and Share historic Sylvester Manor.

Starting in November, the Town Board will conduct a Site Plan Review that will include items specific to the upcoming Manor House Rehabilitation, as well as other aspects of our approved change in use, such as ADA compliance, traffic, and septic upgrades.  In the meantime, our team at Architectural Preservation Studios is putting finishing touches on our construction documents, and we’re continuing to raise funds for the $13M rehabilitation project.

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Manor House Update

In November, we expect to close the chapter on the Manor House book inventory, which we began some 3,000 volumes ago, back in April. We are fortunate to have the help of veteran and new staff members, especially Ginny Gerardi, who came out of retirement to assist with the task, and Eden Sherrod, who has patiently overseen the meticulous cataloging process.

The final shelf in the floor-to-ceiling upstairs hall bookcase featured the variation we’ve come to appreciate about the collection: a program from a Spanish bull fight Andrew and Alice Fiske attended in 1969 filled with ephemera; a 19th century volume on Algonquian languages, and a 17th century series of compiled notes from the voyages of New World explorers Columbus, Coronado, Cortés, Pizarro, and Verrazzano, among others. Thank you Ginny and Eden!