Local nursery owner cited by Chambers of Commerce

Posted

“Not only do we have soil in our blood; we have it under our nails, too,” Eric Abolafia, the third-generation proprietor of Abby’s Parkside Nursery likes to say. Metaphorically speaking, he could say he also has it on his diploma, having earned a bachelor’s degree in horticulture from the University of Maryland.

Technically, the nursery is located in Wantagh, and it was as a member of the Wantagh Chamber of Commerce, that the Abolafia was honored for his service to the community at the Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce’s annual breakfast on Oct. 18. But he admitted that the nursery sat almost atop the line border separating Wantagh from Seaford.

The nursery has been a something of a pilgrimage center on Merrick Road for 30 years, since Abolafia’s grandfather opened in 1989. Gardeners and landscapers of every description and need have flocked to Abby’s Parkside since then for both everything from cut flowers to shrubs; from trees to simple advice. Whether they are interested in a single potted plant for a hospital visit or an entire apothecary garden, Abolafia’s calm demeanor and encyclopedic knowledge reassures.

“I’m calm today,” Abolafia said on a slow October morning. “But you should see me in May just before Mother’s Day,” he said, laughing.

Besides the garden center’s staples, Abolafia said herbs represented a huge part of his inventory. And he estimated that 30 percent of his sales now consisted of fresh, organic vegetables.

“People, especially young people, once they know the difference between what they get in the supermarket and what they can grow themselves — they never want to go back” to store-bought produce, he said. In addition to the health benefits, many of his city-raised customers have simply never tasted farm-fresh produce.

“The cherry tomatoes are really popular,” he said. “We have about 50 or 60 different varieties of tomatoes and about 50 different kinds of pepper plants,” he said. But his customers also grow the whole gamut of farm vegetables, either in their back yards or hydroponically.

Abolafia’s entire stock is seasonal, so the center is now mostly a visual feast of oranges and browns, with pumpkins and other squash alongside dried corn husks and decorative bales of hay.

The Wantagh Chamber of Commerce wrote in naming Abolafia their businessperson of the year that “we can always count on Eric and Abby’s Parkside Nursery and Florist for the special finishing touches.” He was also cited for his constant generosity to local scout troops, PTAs, churches and temples.