When was the last time you planted garlic or harvested horseradish? The Hallock Homestead Museum in Rocky Point is offering community members the chance to check those off their bucket lists at its Harvest Festival, this Saturday, Nov. 9, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“We grow horseradish and garlic like the colonists did,” Suzanne Johnson, president of the Rocky Point Historical Society, told South Shore Press.
It was necessity that led to the creation of the Harvest Festival last year, she said, as Farmer Charlie Bevington, a volunteer who maintains the site’s gardens, needed some helping hands. The goal was to allow participants to take home a jar of horseradish for sandwiches. And, of course, any good farmer knows, as Johnson explained, “Fall is when you plant garlic so that it’s ready for you next summer.”
This Saturday, the horseradish harvest presentation kicks off the day at the Noah Hallock Homestead, one of Long Island’s last remaining Cape Cod-style homes. The Hallock family owned the property for eight generations, starting in 1721—before the American Revolution. Next on the agenda, according to a historical society flier, is the garlic planting, followed by two opportunities for a burying ground tour at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
“I conduct two tours up to the Hallock family cemetery, which is right around the corner, and give a talk about those who are buried there,” Johnson said, adding that “we also give tours of the house.”
Expanding on the farm connection—the Hallocks once raised sheep at the homestead—will be old-time craft demonstrations, such as spinning and weaving with natural fibers. “We have several spinning wheels at the museum, and we try to keep the craft alive,” Johnson said.
In addition, attendees will have the chance to make crafts, such as ornaments, and design a gourd or pumpkin with washable paints. The local group Homegrown String Band will entertain in the homestead’s parlor from 12:30 to 3 p.m.
The suggested donation is $10 per family, she said, and there will be a small yard sale of gift shop items on the front lawn to raise funds for the museum, which is listed on the state and national registers.
“It was very successful last year, so we look forward to it,” Johnson said of the event.
For Johnson, the homestead is more than an example of Rocky Point’s origins, before suburbia transformed this farming community; it is a teaching point about American history to be shared with school children. “The Hallocks had three sons and three grandsons who fought in the Revolution. Two of the sons were born in that house, and two of them are buried in the cemetery right around the corner,” she said.
Johnson recalls the mammoth effort that went into preserving the homestead, where not only the Hallocks but, in later years, the Viacava family lived for five decades. After the last Viacava to call the place home died in 2011, Johnson said, “We did some furious fundraising for a couple of years to try to buy the house so we could open it as a museum.”
Significantly short of the $299,000 needed, the group succeeded in large part due to an offer from Mark Baisch, owner of Landmark Properties in Rocky Point, and a generous donation from the Viacava family, which enabled the purchase of the homestead in 2013.
“We’ve had some setbacks. The house has been flooded three times by stormwater,” Johnson said, but restoration work is nearly complete, thanks to a matching $70,000 grant from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation, a New York State nonprofit.
For more details on the history and events, visit the website. Weekly tours take place Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.