Nature & Science
The Polly Hill Arboretum and the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center are pleased to host landscape historian Kenneth Helphand on Sunday, July 13, at 7:30 p.m. at the arboretum.
In this lecture Mr. Helphand will discuss his award-winning and deeply moving book Defiant Gardens: Making Gardens in Wartime, which states: “Gardens promise beauty where there is none, hope over despair, optimism over pessimism, and finally life in the face of death.”
Friday, July 4: Hot and sunny. Smoke rises above Vineyard Haven Main street. Temperature rises to the high 70s, hotter in the sun. Firemen sip water under a hot overhead sun. Fourth of July parade takes place under clear hazy skies. Hot and breezy. The harbor is full of boats. Low clouds try to interfere with a spectacular fireworks display.
At first glance, Rick Karney does not appear to be a farmer. He works on the water and is usually more damp than dirty.
But to watch him in action is to be sure that the work Mr. Karney does at the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group is hardly different from the work Island farmers do in their fields and stables and greenhouses every day.
Sarah Mello has stepped down as superintendent of the Chappaquiddick properties of The Trustees of Reservations to return to her former position as director of education at the organization’s Island properties.
Chris Kennedy, Islands regional director for the trustees, said Mrs. Mello relinquished the post for personal reasons.
Pass the peas please!
No one is happier than I am about the preponderance of peas. We are nearing legume lunacy — snap, sugar, English, snow and others adorn many gardens and many minds.
After tonight’s fireworks, there is still plenty to see in the night. The planets Saturn and Mars are a close couple in the western sky. Mars is a dull red and it appears right below the yellow ringed-planet Saturn. Both are in the zodiacal constellation Leo and they are the two brightest objects in the western sky. The constellation’s brightest star Regulus appears under the two planets.
Almanac
A comprehensive guide to weather and tides on the Island.
Vineyard Gardener
I guess this past week weather-wise is called a January thaw. We did not really experience it the last several years as December was unseasonably warm.
Farm & Field
Beige and brown and tan and black, with horns spiraled or semicircular or in undulating waves, a legion of goats marched up the hill toward us, bleating in anticipation of fresh grass and leaves.