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Getting Fresh
By Catherine Walthers
© 2004 Martha's Vineyard Magazine
It's a nice summer morning and Bernadette Cormie, mother of two,
turns into the dirt driveway at Whippoorwill Farm, off Old County
Road in West Tisbury. She parks and heads to the stand, glancing
up at the chalkboard that tells her what she can take for this week's
farm "share." She weighs out tomatoes and onions, then
picks up a perfect eggplant and a fragrant bunch of basil and soon
has a big basket of just-picked vegetables that includes cucumbers,
carrots, kale, beets, peppers, and salad greens. Before leaving,
she grabs the scissors and heads outside to cut flowers. No money
is exchanged. Earlier in the year, Cormie and eighty others paid
farmer Andrew Woodruff for a season's worth of produce - twenty-four
weeks. This arrangement, like others across the country, is known
as CSA, or community supported agriculture.
In her Vineyard Haven home, Cormie places the flowers in a vase
on her wooden kitchen table, and starts the night's dinner: a tomato
and cucumber salad, eggplant ratatouille, some pesto and pasta -
a simple summer feast.
"You're getting what's in season; it's much more flavorful,"
says Cormie of the benefits of CSA." You constantly have that
fresh produce - you just eat better. We definitely eat more vegetables."
She also gets roasting chickens she swears by from another Vineyard
farm, Northern Pines, owned by friends of hers, Janet and John Packer.
She even recently bought a freezer and ordered half a pig from the
Packers - a pig, she says, "I've actually known."
Before the American Revolution, Vineyard farmers were growing enough
food for themselves and exporting butter and cheese by the "vessel-load."
There were so many farm animals that during the Revolution, when
the British Army raided the Vineyard, it left with some 10,000 sheep
and 300 cattle. Accounts in the early 1800s recorded a comeback
and found Vineyard farmers tending to more than 15,000 sheep, 2,800
cattle, and 800 "swine."
At the turn of the twentieth century, when farming here began its
decline, the Island had 212 farms and more than 34,000 acres of
land either in cultivation or pasturage. By the late 1990s, an agricultural
census showed 64 farms on fewer than 5,000 acres.
Though Islanders have a history of living off both land and sea
- and in some quarters still do - in recent decades most residents
have gotten their food from Island supermarkets, not Island farms.
But more and more small family farms are now bringing their goods
to the public. Because of this revival, a Vineyard resident can
find fresh Vineyard fruit and vegetables all summer long, and eggs,
chicken, lamb, beef, and pork year-round. It's not hard to enjoy
the immediate benefits of food grown here: better health, nutrition,
and overall taste.
"I think people really care about their food source and I
think they want to be a little more involved instead of going to
the grocery store and buying generic food," says Elizabeth
Thompson who, with her husband Jeffry, raises oxen, sheep, cows,
chickens, and runs a farm stand on Thompson Farm off Lambert's Cove
Road in Tisbury.
Though only fifty-five, Jim Athearn, who owns and operates Morning
Glory Farm in Edgartown with his wife Debbie, now calls himself
one of the farming "old-timers." For the past twenty-eight
years, he has built up one of the busiest and largest Island farms,
growing vegetables, fruits, herbs, and flowers on fifty acres, harvesting
hay on another thirty acres, and raising cattle that pasture on
six more acres.
"The economy of Martha's Vineyard is dependent on our natural
attributes," says Athearn - "the beaches, the farms, the
rural feeling. It's all a package people enjoy and the reason we
want to live here ourselves."
Says Jim Norton of Vineyard Haven, who left his job as a professor
at Oberlin College in 1973 to reactivate the Oak Bluffs and Tisbury
farm his great-grandfather had purchased in 1837: "I think
those of us in it feel a commitment to recognizing the fragile environment
we live in and trying to preserve it."
In addition to the children growing up on family farms such as
North Tabor, Northern Pines, and Thompson Farm, who may one day
carry on these ideals, there's another generation of farmers already
busy at work: Simon Athearn at Morning Glory, Jamie and Dianne Norton,
Fred Fisher Jr. who runs Nip 'n Tuck Farm, and Arnie Fischer Jr.,
who with his sister carries on the Flat Point family farm. The established
farmers and ones coming on the scene face the same challenges of
farmers everywhere - that of hard work and trying to make farming
profitable - but are also resolute advocates for preserving farming
as a way of life on the Island.
And, of course, one of the best ways to help preserve family farms
on the Vineyard is to buy and eat the products they're offering.
Island restaurants are turning more and more often to Island farms
for the best ingredients. Ryan Hardy, executive chef at The Coach
House at the Harbor View Hotel in Edgartown, puts it this way: "The
quality of the food is always going to be better if you pick it
off the vine and deliver it to your back door than something you're
going to ship in. Produce has a life span, just like seafood. Anytime
you can get it as fresh as possible, the better it's going to be."
Allen Sheep Farm
South Road, Chilmark
One of the most photographed and painted places on the Vineyard,
this farm, overlooking the Atlantic, is home to over a hundred sheep,
who munch on nothing but salt-tinged grass and hay. This lends a
wonderful taste to the meat, and evidence suggests grass-fed animals
offer better nutrition than their factory-farmed counterparts. Clarissa
Allen and Mitchell Posin sell boneless and bone-in legs of lamb;
shoulder meat (great for stews and braises); ground lamb; racks;
chops; and lamb sausage. There's also chicken, olive oil, and chutneys
(all organic), along with hand-knit sweaters and hats. Noon to 5
p.m. daily, starting in June. All other times, phone the farm: 508-645-9064.
Beetlebung Farm
Middle Road, across from the Chilmark Town Hall entrance
At Beetlebung Corner, you can check out a library book, collect
your mail, and pick up freshly dug potatoes, pattypan squash, and
triple-washed salad greens for dinner. It's all delicious and grown
organically, making it a favorite stop. Grower/owner Marie Scott
is usually behind the self-serve stand, ready to answer questions.
Blackwater Farm
Lambert's Cove Road, behind Cottle's lumberyard, West Tisbury
My son once wandered around this small farm and learned where food
really comes from by asking questions such as, "Where did the
pigs go?" Named for the brook behind the house, Blackwater
is owned by Debby Farber and Alan Cottle. Next to the refrigerator
stocked with eggs - they have more than two hundred chickens - is
a freezer filled with steak and hamburger, bacon, pork chops, and
roasts. Debby also sells organic vegetables at the Farmer's Market
on Saturdays. Her mix of baby - and I do mean baby - salad greens
is one of the best around, as are the green beans I wait all winter
for: slender and crisp with real flavor.
Flat Point Farm
Road to Great Neck, off New Lane, West Tisbury
Flat Point is the family farm purchased in 1939 by the late Arnie
Fischer Sr., who operated a dairy farm there until the late 1960s.
Arnie Jr. and sister Eleanor Neubert now raise some twenty sheep
and a dozen or so cows on thirty acres, and harvest hay - they sell
three thousand to four thousand bales a year - on another thirty
acres. You can buy eggs, a whole lamb (averaging forty-five pounds),
or beef by the pound. To get on their list for lamb or beef, call
Arnie at 508-693-5685 or Eleanor at 508-693-4343.
The Farmer's Market
Grange Hall, State Road, West Tisbury
Wednesday afternoons and Saturdays, 9 a.m. to noon
Opening mid-June, the Farmer's Market offers a spot for Island farmers
to hang their signs for a few hours. Many sell flowers, jellies,
and breads, but you can still find just-harvested produce. Nothing
will improve your cooking more. At least five or six of the growers
farm organically. Don't miss North Tabor Farm, offering shiitake
mushrooms and a vibrant salad mix; Stannard Farms with arugula,
asparagus, haricot verts, and an amazing array of leafy greens,
such as kale and collards; Whippoorwill Farm with tomatoes, basil,
and another fine salad mix; and Blackwater Farm, described above.
The FARM Institute
Herring Creek Farm, 19 Butler's Cove Road,
Edgartown
Since 2001, the FARM Institute has been operating Herring Creek
Farm along
the Atlantic shoreline as both a working and teaching farm with
programs and summer camps for schoolkids. It raises rare breeds
of grass-fed cows and sheep, which are humanely slaughtered at an
organic facility in Vermont. Customers can pre-order beef or lamb
as available. The FARM Institute recently leased nearby Katama Farm,
a former dairy, and plans to relocate there in 2005. For information,
call 508-627-7007.
Middle Road Farm
9 Middle Road, Chilmark
Caitlin Jones and Allen Healy haven't found a name they like for
their sheep and vegetable farm but have no problem finding endless
heirloom varieties of fruits and vegetables to grow. There is a
variety of eggplants - pink, purple, white, or striped, and they
grew seventy types of tomatoes last year. Jones saves seeds from
varieties of tomatoes to promote genetic diversity. The couple also
sells heirloom lettuces, greens, leeks, and herbs at a self-serve
stand on Middle Road, across from Brookside Farm, and at the Saturday
Farmer's Market.
Morning Glory Farm
Edgartown-West Tisbury Road, Edgartown
If not for Morning Glory, where would I find strawberries that taste
like strawberries, and Island-grown summer corn? And all those herbs,
fruits, and vegetables, picked fresh daily, even hourly? People
snap up their homemade fruit pies or zucchini bread, but I reach
for the crisp lettuces, peppers, cucumbers, wax beans, and anything
else harvested from this sixty-four-acre farm - one of the largest
on the Island - owned by Jim and Debbie Athearn. Naturally raised
beef is also available. Look for their booth at the Farmer's Market.
Phone: 508-627-9003.
Native Earth Teaching Farm
94 North Road, Chilmark
This stop for fresh food can also be a place to learn about raising
goats, pigs, or sheep. Education is one of the goals of owners Rebecca
Gilbert and Randy Ben David, who vividly recall one Agricultural
Fair where they heard parents and kids mistakenly call chickens
ducks and ducks chickens. The couple opened their farm to the public
two years ago with a newly built stand, and have five acres out
of twenty-five under cultivation, selling seasonal vegetables, flowers,
eggs, and herbs, as well as strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries.
They also sell free-range chicken and duck, if you call ahead (and
know which is which). Open Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday from
10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Call 508-645-3304 to order.
Murphy Blueberry Farm
Off State Road, Chilmark
Susan Murphy's blueberry farm, not far beyond Chilmark Chocolates,
is a great Island spot to pick your own blueberries. In fact, stopping
at both places makes for a memorable summer day. There are five
varieties among the 320 blueberry bushes - all free of pesticides,
herbicides, and chemical fertilizers. The season lasts from mid-July
through August. Call first for availability: 508-645-2883.
Nip 'n Tuck Farm
State Road, West Tisbury
The only Vineyard dairy farm left, Fred Fisher Jr.'s Nip 'n Tuck
is the place to find eggs and milk year-round, and garden vegetables
in the summer. It's an Island source for raw organic milk that many
believe contains vital nutrients and is more easily digested than
conventional homogenized milk. (For more information on raw milk,
visit realmilk.com.) Phone: 508-693-1449.
Northern Pines Farm
Northern Pines Road, off Lambert's Cove Road, Tisbury
Turn right at the mailboxes on lower Lambert's Cove Road and follow
the yellow animal signs to Janet and John Packer's forty-two acre
farm. The self-serve "first come, first serve" freezers
hold all cuts of grass-fed beef, from stew meat to tenderloin; you
weigh it out on an old-fashioned scale, and leave cash or a check.
Frozen whole chickens are meaty and delicious. Pork lovers can order
a whole or half-pig, the only ways it is sold. A half-pig weighs
about fifty pounds and sells for $250. Phone: 508-693-1025.
Norton Farm
Off Vineyard Haven-Edgartown Road, Oak Bluffs and Tisbury
Jim Norton jokes he was once dubbed the "pea baron" of
the Island for the large crop of snap peas and English peas grown
at Norton Farm each year. The pea harvest in mid-June signals loyal
customers that the farm stand has opened for the season. All summer
there's a bounty of other vegetables, including corn and flowers,
grown on this farm that has been in the family since 1837. Son Jamie
and daughter-in-law Dianne plan to convert to an all-organic operation
soon.
Thompson Farm
Northern Pines Road, off Lambert's Cove Road, Tisbury
You might see oxen, goats, sheep, pigs, and children in the big
Vermont barn on Elizabeth and Jeffry Thompson's farm. The Thompsons
welcome Island classes to come learn about farming life. "It's
very low-key," says Elizabeth. "Visitors are always welcome."
Look in the stand for seasonal beef, pork, lamb, organic chicken,
eggs, and herbs, along with wool and knitted goods. Call 508-693-7354
for more information.
Whippoorwill Farm
Old County Road, West Tisbury
Andrew Woodruff started farming here when he was eighteen and purchased
Whippoorwill Farm in 1993. If you don't sow your own vegetable garden,
the next best thing may be buying "shares" in Woodruff's
organic farm, the only community supported agriculture enterprise
on the Island. Participants fill boxes with vegetables and herbs
picked at the peak of ripeness - basil, tomatoes, spinach, squash,
leeks, and lettuce greens, among others. A share costs $450 for
about twenty-four weeks. If you don't own shares, you can find Whippoorwill's
produce at both Cronig's Markets and at the Farmer's Market. There's
usually a line on Saturday, especially when the tomatoes are ready.
For information, call 508-693-5995.
The FARM Institute - Post Office Box 1868 - Edgartown,
MA 02539 - (508) 627-7007 |
