A familiar face smiles at the farm stand for 53 years

Sitting behind the shelf of freshly picked radishes, parsley, snap peas and spinach at Farmer Mike’s yellow and green farm stand, is Dorothy Konarski, 88. She’s been running the show at the family’s farm stand in Peconic for the past 53 years.

Wearing a green apron, glasses, jeans and sneakers, her hair pulled back in a bun, Ms. Konarski dutifully puts out the old-school handwritten vegetable signs, dispenses advice to customers and hands out change from a rusted metal cash box. All the while, she keeps a journal about her experiences at the farm stand — both the good and bad.

“You do what you have to do,” she said. “My husband was a farmer. We’re from a farming family.”

Over the years, the family’s farm has gone from 50 acres to 5 to the current 1-1/2 behind the farm stand. The youngest of her four children, Greg, who is 60, picks all the vegetables around 5 a.m. every morning.

During her decades at the farm stand, Ms. Konarski has kept a journal called “Behind the Counter.” She’s the main author, but seasonal employees who worked the growing months would also record in it. 

“I said I’m going to write a book when I’m done. It’s anything funny or sometimes bad,” Ms. Konarski explains.

The dozens of spiral-bound school notebooks are filled with the day-to-day stories and anecdotes of life as a farmer’s wife behind the counter. Excerpts include a customer asking: “What is the difference between these two bags of beans?” With the answer: “One is one pound. The other is three pounds.”  

From November of 2004: “Had a pleasant surprise. The dog-walkers came by with a piece of mocha chocolate cake, my favorite. It was a square piece, 4-by-4, so I shared it at supper with my son.” 

And this: “Some fussy lady wanted arugula, and she looked at it and saw a few holes in the leaves and said ‘I think I’ll pass.’ She just missed the best arugula I ever ate — it’s her loss.” 

Dorothy Gabos was 16 when she met her husband, Mike. They married in 1956, and by the time she was 29, the couple had four children under the age of 10. As they grew, she would continue working in the fields with an infant nearby in a stroller and the other children playing in the field.

Mike Konarski passed away in 2008. Her son, Greg, is still involved in the daily workings of the little farm. 

“I worked in the fields a long time,” she said. “I’m so tired of working now. I start at nine every day, but sometimes I have to go to the doctor, so I just close.” 

Ms. Konarski has handed her journals over to Helene Munson, a local author and longtime friend, who is working on publishing them on her behalf.