Sprawling estates in the Hamptons usually sell for more than $1 million and is the kind of place celebrities like Paul McCartney, Gwyneth Paltrow and Christie Brinkley buy homes.
It is also the place where Katie Baldwin, and Amanda Merrow, two young ladies from different parts of the country, decided to start their seven-acre grain and vegetable farm in 2008, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Baldwin and Merrow are part of a group of homeowners in the Hamptons who have been able to afford the most expensive real estate in the country.
With farmland in the Hamptons selling for $100,000 an acre, the two started Amber Waves Farm by renting the plot for $300 an acre per year from the Peconic Land Trust, a non-profit.
Merrow, 27, and Baldwin, 31, told The Wall Street Journal they were attracted to farming at the Atlanta Oceans edge, where they saw a market for their organic wheat, kale, radishes, sweet potatoes and other crops among the wealthy summer residents at the location.
"I never remember a moment of hesitation on either of our parts," Merrow said.
"We were too naïve to hesitate," Baldwin added.
Renting about 165 acres to 13 farmers in the Hamptons, the Peconic Land Trust makes it possible for the two to grow food in the area, where real estate has become far too expensive for most people to afford.
According to The Journal, farmers in the Hamptons usually sell their developments rights to the government or a non-profit organization in order to reduce their property values.
Merrow told The Journal that new farms are like most start-ups, requiring owners need to pay themselves very little in the early stages. But the two plan to stick with it; they aim to expand their wheat production to take full advantage in the local market.
"It's certainly a challenge to make money doing what we're doing because the season is very short," Merrow told The Journal.
"You really only have six months to sell food. But it's Katie's and my intention to continue farming."
