The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank commission voted to award two new agricultural leases on Monday, putting active farmers back on the land at Quenomica Preserve North and at Tea Lane Farm.
“I was really impressed with the proposals, all of them really have value” said Aquinnah commissioner Sarah Thulin.
The Tea Lane Farm property, unrelated to the Chilmark flower farm of the same name, was jointly awarded to Max Eagan and John Thurwood, two local culinarians. They plan to split the one-acre property between chickens and crop cultivation.
Quenomica Preserve North was leased to Joanna Douglas, who currently runs her Fork to Pork pig-raising operation at the Land Bank’s Wapatequa Woods property. At Quenomica, Ms. Douglas plans to expand her operation to cattle, which she will raise and graze on the five acres of pasture property.
In other business, the commission and the Land Bank’s Edgartown advisory board approved a draft management plan for the Quenomica Preserve, now set for a public hearing on April 10.
Quenomica Preserve, an 11.7-acre property split between a northern agricultural parcel and a southern property at Quenomica Point on the Edgartown Great Pond, was purchased in March of last year for $8 million.
Elements of the draft plan, developed by Land Bank ecologist Julie Russell, include disallowing dogs to protect otters on the property, installing a viewing platform on the southern point of the property and constructing a duck blind for local duck hunters.
The plan will require approval from the Edgartown land bank advisory board following the public hearing, and the property cannot be opened to the public until it has been approved.
Comments
Comment policy »