In the cooler inside the Mermaid Farm farm stand, hidden behind the frosty glass doors and tucked underneath the lamb shanks and marrow bones, is a basket of Haagen-Dazs ice cream bars. If you’...

Last week, here in the hinterlands of West Tisbury, a serious frost — actually more like several hours of freezing temperatures — finished off my zinnias, tomatoes, peppers and beans. A...

When publishing powerhouse Condé Nast announced on August 27 that Dawn Davis would be the new editor of Bon Appétit magazine, the veteran book publisher was at home on East Chop, where she and her...

The beach plums ripened this week, just like that. My friends are making jelly. I should be too. After all, this was a tradition in my childhood home, after the annual pilgrimage to mosquito-laden...

Ready for round two? If not, just think of me as your garden cheerleader. Seriously, just when you were ready to give up on that veggie garden, give in to the pests, leave the desiccated perennial...

Just as soon as I planned my annual August grab-bag menu challenge, the refrigerator broke. The same day a long-awaited new water heater showed up, along with the installer, who regretted to inform...

The winds came and brought August, carried us over the steep mount of summer, pushing us gently back down the other side. Even before the winds, I knew. Got that feeling that summer was burning...

By now you’ve probably figured out from my stories about gardens and farm animals that I’m in pursuit of joy and beauty. Some might call this hedonistic, but I call it life saving. In our...

When the pandemic hit, six-year-old Henry Scott was in kindergarten at the Martha’s Vineyard Charter School and two-year-old Deirdre Scott was in preschool at First Light Child Development...

With news this week that the Chilmark Flea Market wouldn’t after all be happening this summer, I felt a wave of gratitude for the West Tisbury Farmers’ Market folks. Not to mention the...