Andrew Woodruff emerged from a tangle of tomato vines in the Thimble Farm greenhouse last Sunday morning, carrying the first ripe tomato of the season.
“I don’t know who to give it to,” Mr. Woodruff smiled. Standing in front of him were Sarah McKay, president of the Island Grown Initiative, Eric Grubman, the former owner of the property and Allan and Shelley Holt, who recently donated money to help IGI buy the farm and keep it in active food production for future generations.
Mr. Woodruff placed the red fruit in Mr. Holt’s hand.
Thimble Farm, 37 acres of fertile farmland in the center of the Vineyard that recently went on the market for sale, will be saved as a working farm thanks to generous donations from both the owner of the property and two seasonal Vineyard residents, the Island Grown Initiative has confirmed.
Thimble Farm has been rescued once again from possible sale into private hands. And a collective sigh of relief went around the Vineyard farming and conservation community this week at the news that thirty-seven acres of friable farmland in the center of the Island will remain in active food production, hopefully this time forever.
Thimble Farm is now expected to go on the market after a community coalition that had formed last year to buy the farm failed to raise enough money.
The group was called the Martha’s Vineyard Farm Project and the goal was to buy the 37-acre farm that is currently leased by Whippoorwill Farm owner Andrew Woodruff.
But farm owner Eric Grubman, a seasonal resident of Katama, confirmed that the coalition was unable to realize a plan to buy the farm and turn it into a nonprofit food-producing operation.
Thimble Farm, 40 acres of fertile farmland in the center of the Vineyard whose future has been uncertain for the better part of the last year, will be saved as a working farm.
The community group working to conserve Thimble Farm as perpetual farmland was granted a reprieve this week when the owner of the land renewed a one-year lease with current tenant Whippoorwill Farm.
Land owner Eric Grubman said yesterday the deal with Whippoorwill Farm owner Andrew Woodruff was a placeholder to ensure the land stayed active while organizers behind the Vineyard Farm Project, the coalition of farmers and conservationists seeking to preserve the land, crafted a plan.
