Farm & Garden
By LYNNE IRONS
I was humbled this week. I took an assessment of my vegetable garden. It is remarkable that I have been able to produce so much food. There is hunger in so many places in the world — famine, war, poverty and drought. We truly do live in a land of plenty. This summer’s garden has been particularly good, what with enough rain.
Simon Athearn of Morning Glory was making hay while the sun shone yesterday, though he wasn’t yet ready to bet the farm — just a few acres in fact, out in Katama.
By LYNNE IRONS
I was working in Edgartown last Thursday during the rather impressive storm. We did not experience hailstones but ran for cover anyway. I don’t recall being so terrified of thunder and lightening. We were on the harbor in a big open space. That, combined with the news of a 42-year-old fisherman struck and killed in Chatham, made us less cavalier than usual. I remember Craig Kingsbury telling me of two separate strikes he experienced. Once, he said, he woke up 20 feet from where it took place.
Less agriculturally-minded folk than Mitchell Posin might mistake the sign on South Road advertising compost tea for a joke, something dreamt up by kids searching for the world’s least appealing beverage to flog by the side of the road.
In fact it is there to promote the result of three years’ trial and error by Mr. Posin, the co-owner Allen Farm sheep and wool company: an organic fertilizer solution for the bespoke ecology of Martha’s Vineyard.
By LYNNE IRONS
I have no business writing a garden column. I do whatever I want and follow no rules. The good news is that I am eating the fruits of my labors. Last weekend I was able to put several containers of snow peas into the freezer. I tore off the stems and strings, blanched for a minute in boiling water, and chilled them in cold water. They were still crispy and will be great this winter in stir-frys or pot pies.
The general impression is that the West Tisbury Farmers’ Market is having a slow start to its 35th year. Farmers are weathering a recession as well as the persistent rains which are dampening the enthusiasm of crops and shoppers alike.
Nailing down anything more specific, though, is hard work. There are 40 vendors at the West Tisbury market and as many prognostications about the coming season. The market opens from 9 to noon tomorrow for its second Wednesday, and for the fourth Saturday, July 4.