6The 43rd annual Pickle Festival gets underway next week, with a full lineup of vendors and activities for families.
The Greenlawn Centerport Historical Association’s festival will run from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Sept. 16 at the John Gardiner Farm, 900 Park Ave., Huntington.
In addition to pickles, the festival will feature farm stand, roasted corn, arts and crafts, Lollipop train rides, hayride, antique cars, baked goods, t-shirts, food and drinks and music.
The festival honors the pickle industry that once flourished along the railroad tracks from the 1880s-1920s. Alexander Gardiner had a 600-acre farm in Greenlawn and he is known as Greenlawn’s Pickle Pioneer. He introduced pickles as a cash crop and offered Green Prolific Pickle Seed for sale.
Samuel Ballton, who was formerly enslaved, was a successful farmer, businessman, and promoter of Greenlawn, who earned the title “Greenlawn Pickle King” in 1899 when he raised 1,500,000 pickles in one season.