Chilmark’s Beetlebung Farm opened its new farmstand Monday and customers exchanged congratulations as their eyes scanned shelves lined with the final fruits of fall.

The new storefront is the culmination of years of planning and provides residents a place to pick up fresh produce in the farm’s recently erected barn.

The farm shows off its produce.

Ray Ewing

The farm shows off its produce.

Ray Ewing

Guests were greeted with the warmth of a fireplace as they made their way to marvel at Beetlebung’s baked goods. Cranberry coffee cake, potato rolls, and sesame sprinkled leek and ricotta bialys rested behind a glass case. Shelves displaying local goods like Merry Farm pottery, Salt Rock Chocolate, Island Bee Company candles and cookbooks by Vineyard authors lined the walls.

Behind the register was a chalkboard spelling out what the local farm was harvesting and to the right, a table showed off the farm’s celery, ginger, onions and greens. A nearby cooler was filled with cultured butters, spinach and apple turnovers, yogurt and fresh farm eggs.

Kate Woods, the farm and food director smiled ear-to-ear beside Mara Flanagan, Beetlebung’s director of operations, while greeting customers. 

Staff welcome customers at the opening.

Ray Ewing

Staff welcome customers at the opening.

Ray Ewing

“It really feels like people are being nourished by [the stand] in more ways than we ever could have hoped for,” Ms. Woods said. “...The whole space is meant to celebrate farms and people that are in food and agriculture.”

She felt that up-Island needed a place to gather in the winter months, and hoped Beetlebung Farm would be able to provide that while also highlighting locally grown food.

Plans for the stand have been in the works since 2019 said Amy Shepard Weinberg, one of the owners of the farm. In the early days, they were washing potatoes in their home bathroom because they didn’t have the facilities they do now. 

The new farmstand is a small room within a large barn where the crew processes their harvest and cooks the goods they sell. Ms. Shepard Weinberg said the barn dates back to the 18th century and comes from New Hampshire. 

Beetlebung is also selling its baked goods at the stand.

Ray Ewing

Beetlebung is also selling its baked goods at the stand.

Ray Ewing

“Often these barns are bought up and sold for parts, and then they go into fancy homes and become family rooms,” Ms. Shepard Weinberg said. “We were really excited to sort of save it… Part of what we’re all about is repurposing, reusing and bringing the feeling of hand.”

To support the Island’s agriculture, the farm offers a discount for farmers and fishermen. It also plans to move the farm’s old stand next to the barn so customers can get local produce when the new one is closed. 

Krishana Collins, one of the leaders of Beetlebung after the Weinberg family purchased it in 2018, said in her 30 years on the Vineyard, she hasn’t seen anything up-Island to the scale of this new farmstand.

“Seeing the first two days has brought so much joy to my eyes, because I’m seeing people walk in with smiles, and they’re picking out beautiful produce,” Ms. Collins said. “I haven’t been able to see a gathering place in a very, very long time where there’s that much warmth and that much invitation to enjoy what we have to offer in our own community.”

More pictures.