Sotheby's Puts Veggies on the Block

Sotheby's Auction House, that purveyor of all things rare and fine, will soon dabble in something a little more pedestrian: vegetables.

But these aren't your average garden greens. On the auction block are mixed crates filled with veggies such as Turkish Orange Eggplant, Lady Godiva Squash and Pink Banana Pumpkin. Rare, indeed. The asking price: $1,000 a crate.

The auction is part of a Sotheby's benefit featuring heirloom vegetables—vintage varieties that aren't commonly grown by the mass-produced agriculture of today. The Sept. 23 benefit, titled "The Art of Farming," is the first of its kind by Sotheby's and is being held in the auction house's Manhattan showroom.

If ever there was a sign that locavorism—the movement to eat all things natural and local—has reached a new level, this may be it. As local vegetables become sought-after ingredients du jour, local farmers, often using organic growing methods, find themselves increasingly in the spotlight.

"I feel very fortunate to be an organic farmer right now," said Erich McEnroe, manager of McEnroe Organic Farm in Millerton, N.Y., who is growing Black Sea Man Tomatoes and Turkish Orange Eggplant for the auction. "I'm glad my father made the switch many moons ago."

Proceeds from the event will go to GrowNYC New Farmers Development Project, an initiative helping immigrants to become farmers, and to the Sylvia Center, a program that teaches children to eat well.

Jamie Niven, chairman of Sotheby's North America, will auction off food-related packages such as celebrity-chef dinners and vegetable shares in local farms.

At the end of the auction, attendees will be asked if they want to donate $1,000 for one of 10 crates of the mixed heirloom vegetables grown by several dozen farmers. The contents of the crates then will be donated to two local food pantries.

A silent auction will allow people to buy some heirloom vegetables for themselves. The Sotheby's event is preceded by a cocktail reception and followed by a four-course dinner created by celebrity chefs.

The auction kicks off Eat Drink Local Week, running statewide between Sept. 26 and Oct. 6. Other observances around the state center on participating restaurants highlighting the locally grown fare they offer on their menus.

Amy Todd Middleton, Sotheby's director of world-wide marketing, said the event is designed to promote heirloom vegetables and local farming.

"It's not that Sotheby's is entering a new line of business or that we're starting to have farm auctions," said Ms. Middleton. "This is a benefit to raise awareness and a philanthropic event for the local farming community."

The idea was hatched with Brent Ridge, owner of a goat dairy in upstate New York, now featured on the Discovery Channel's: "The Fabulous Beekman Boys."

Mr. Ridge is growing vegetables for the auction, too. "Each of these vegetables has their own provenance, just like a great work of art, and we should really educate people about that," he said.

Mr. Ridge said farmers got to pick what they wanted to grow from seeds that were donated by two companies. Many are growing the crops for the first time. "This gave them the chance to experiment with these things with very little financial risk," he said.

Heirloom vegetables have a different taste than their modified relatives and generally look different, as well. They also are more difficult to grow and variable in their yield, as some farmers are learning.

Mr. McEnroe said only about 25% of the tomato seeds he planted germinated. Normally his germination rate is between 95% and 98%. He fared better with the eggplant, with a 60% to 70% germination rate.

"They are much different than the hybrid plants, not as aggressive and as productive," Mr. McEnroe said.

John Gorzynski of Gorzynski Ornery Farm in the Catskills is contributing Red Amish Deer Tongue Lettuce to the auction, an heirloom variety he has been growing for years.

The lettuce isn't particularly pricey. Mr. Gorzynski sells it for $3 a head. But he said it's not a big seller because it's small, susceptible to disease and doesn't ship well.

But the taste can't be beat. "It's superior to any lettuce that I know," he said. "It's a very tender delicate leaf that just melts in your mouth."