On a sunny Friday afternoon, the Vineyard Sound was doo-wapping at the Edgartown Mini Park, people strolled in and out of shops and dogs sat panting in the shade of a benches. Through the throng, Collins Heavener from Slip Away Farm pushed a pale yellow cart with one squeaky wheel. Leafy greens and black-eyed Susans spilled out the top of bags and boxes fit snuggly in the cart. Mr. Heavener walked quickly through the street, navigating the pedestrian traffic before stopping at the side door of the Port Hunter Restaurant.
“Kale, bok choy, chard, squash and beets,” he called out, unloading bags of produce that had been picked that morning. The final touch was a bouquet of flowers, a special addition he always brings for Chef Jeremy Davis.
Then it was on to the Covington and Behind the Bookstore Cafe.
Lily Walter’s Slip Away Farm is located on Chappaquiddick and serves the community there with a farm stand and through community supported agricultural shares. But farm workers also make the trip to Edgartown every Friday morning to deliver produce to the restaurants in town.
At first Mr. Heavener took his truck across, but with the long ferry lines during summer, the trip was time consuming. He tried carrying the produce over in two big trash bags but that was unwieldy. He switched to an old wooden wheelbarrow, but that was still a little hard to maneuver, especially through the crowded streets.
So he turned to his carpentry skills for the answer and retrofited a bicycle cart he had built and transformed it into a push cart.
It’s a nod to the past, the peddler pushing his push cart to the kitchen door of his customers with the freshest produce imaginable. While packing a box with herbs, he paused over a bundle of just-picked dill.
“This is amazing,” he said, inhaling deeply into a bundle. “Dill, smell it. Cilantro, smell it. And the basil just kind of overwhelms all of it.”
While chefs make requests each week, they are also are willing to take whatever Mr. Heavener has to offer, especially when it comes to herbs.
“Farming can be a little isolating sometimes,” Mr. Heavener said. “So it’s good to have an excuse to come into town.”
Comments
Comment policy »