There is something comforting in the connection between old-fashioned, farm-grown accomplishments, community pride and simple pleasures. It connects us to the land and to each other. The Martha's Vineyard Agricultural Society's fourth annual Harvest Festival conjures vintage images of farm life and country fairs and invites Islanders to celebrate the Vineyard's rich agricultural tradition at the fairgrounds in West Tisbury Saturday, Sunday and Monday, the Columbus Day holiday.
It may be only a few minutes shy of 10:30 in the morning, but as
Rocky Magnuson reminds the stream of people walking by, it's never
too early to enjoy a little kettle corn.
The Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society has a new barn. It took only two days for dozen Amish craftsmen, working alone, to raise it. The traditionally built barn makes a perfect sister to the agricultural society’s other barns, though in this case all the wood is new.
The Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society has issued a call for applicants for its annual grant program. Eligible are all farm-related individuals or organizations whose goal is to improve the quality of life and contribute to the sustainability of the Vineyard agricultural community.
Fifteen years ago, the New Hampshire barn that had been dismantled, shipped and reassembled off Panhandle Road in West Tisbury was finished, and officially became the New Agricultural Society Hall. While a decade and a half of potlucks, dances, meetings and exhibitions have taken the new out of its name, the Ag Hall remains something to celebrate. Saturday’s Barnraisers’ Ball will do just that, with help from Johnny Hoy and the Bluefish. The barn doors open at 7:30 p.m., and admission is a dessert to share.
The Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society won four awards including the Best of Show honor at the 2009 Massachusetts Agricultural Fairs’ Association Media Awards competition held this month in Marlborough.
The fair’s poster, by the Vineyard Gazette’s Morgan Lucero, was awarded best of show.
The Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society has issued a call for applicants for their annual grant program. Eligible are all farm related individuals or organizations whose goal is to improve the quality of life and contribute to the sustainability of the Martha’s Vineyard agricultural community.
The Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society has announced its 2009 grant awards. Breezy Pines Farms will receive $400 for seed and soil; the Farm Institute will receive $1,000 for a mobile hen house; Down Island Farm will receive $1,000 for herb, berry and nut production; Glenn Jackson will receive $1,000 for fencing and a small hoop house; Vineyard Open Land Foundation will receive $750 toward their organic cranberry bog weeding project; the Whiting Farm will receive $850 for pastured poultry equipment.
Every August, Vineyarders flood the fair grounds at the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society Hall in West Tisbury. Every fall, we are treated to the harvest festival to celebrate the season’s bounty, and every winter we have Island artisans’ fairs, community potlucks or most recently the winter farmers’ markets. The Vineyard is a place of tradition, and the Ag Hall is a beacon of that.
