West Tisbury Free Public Library, Island Grown Schools and the Farm Institute will launch a new community seed library initiative, to be housed at the West Tisbury library.
A one-year-old ram named Chili has repeatedly torn free from its fencing confines this winter and roamed the plains of Katama. Chili has kept animal control officer Barbara Prada busy — she calls him a Houdini.
Farm Institute campers Juliette Colas and Evan Troost gave tours. Evan stood next to an aerial map of the farm where campers had previously identified plants around the farm, naming clover, oxeye daisies, fleabane and hairy vetch.
“Well that’s actually found right under us,” he said of the purple-flowered cover crop. Juliette pointed out barns, greenhouses and silos with expert commentary.
In May, Richard (RJ) Cage and his two sons built a handicap accessible vegetable garden at the Farm Institute. They used old barn wood to create the raised bed, making sure it was tall enough for wheelchair users to be able to lean over and pick crops easily. Over the summer more than 10 participants from the Seven Hills Foundation, a year-round day program for adults with developmental disabilities, worked in the garden two to three times a week.
Ask most kids where their eggs, beef and milk come from and
they'll tell you the grocery store. Ask the same question of the
young people who have spent a week at Herring Creek Farm and
they'll answer differently: "It comes from a farm."
After a period of lying fallow, Katama Farm will be traditionally
farmed again. The Edgartown Conservation Commission on Wednesday night
agreed to lease the historic property to FARM Institute.
Their decision brings the 180-acre farm back into the Island farming
community. It also allows FARM Institute the opportunity to expand its
role of helping young people learn the ways of agriculture.
FARM Institute, the novice non-profit dedicated to bolstering the
Vineyard's agricultural heritage, is putting its first Island home
up for sale, planning to surrender a foothold in the storied Herring
Creek Farm.
The transaction will help bankroll the institute's vision for
neighboring Katama Farm - a 190-acre spread that the town of
Edgartown turned over to FARM Institute this spring.
Complaining that Edgartown officials turned a deaf ear to their appeals to limit operations at Katama Farm, a group of four Katama residents will go to court Tuesday - pleading with a superior court judge to evict the FARM Institute, newest tenant of the town-owned farm.
