Chilmark: Garlic Season

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The garlic harvest is piled high outside of Mermaid Farm's new farm stand building. —Valerie Sonnenthal

You may love the smell of a fresh fruit pie baking, or something cooking on the grill; for me heaven is garlic season. When I stopped by Mermaid Farm the other day, Cody had just brought a third pickup load of freshly picked garlic over to the farm stand, and was surrounded on all sides by drying garlic. My garlic can get me through a few weeks, and then I look forward to local garlic filling in. The newly built Mermaid Farm farm stand building is spacious and reconfigured to welcome folks. Be sure to stop by there and all our wonderful Chilmark farms including Grey Barn, Menemsha Crossroads, Native Earth Teaching Farm, and North Tabor farm stands. Also, if you’ve enjoyed Olivia Pattison’s Cinnamon Starship bread from the Wednesday West Tisbury Farmers Market, you can buy her breads at the Chilmark Store or Mermaid Farm on Saturdays.

The Martha’s Vineyard Author Series continues on Thursday, July 28, with Richard Russo being interviewed by Amor Towles about “Everybody’s Fool.” On Thursday, August 4, Carly Simon discusses her memoir, “Boys in the Trees,” with WMVY radio host Barbara Dacey. All programs begin at 7:30 pm at the Chilmark Community Center, tickets available at mvbookfestival.com; if not sold out, also at the door.

It’s the Cinema Circus Wrap Party on Friday, July 29, with short films and animation beginning at 4:30 pm, followed by a 5:30 pm feature film. All ages welcome, free admission. A showing of “One Big Home” has been added for Friday, July 29, at 8 pm, and check out the other great offerings coming up at tmvff.org.

Saturday, July 30, join Polly Simpkins from 3 to 5 pm at the Yoga Barn for Cup of Karma, a live storytelling event celebrating “our spirit and those who inspire our soul.” Free.

Relax and listen to North Indian classical ragas with Abhik Mukherjee, one of the finest young masters of the sitar today, accompanied on tabla by Erhen Hanson, on Saturday, July 30, at 7 pm at the Chilmark Community Center. $15.

Time for a Chilmark Writing Workshop with Nancy Aronie; sign up for the session August 1 to 4, from 9 am to noon each day. The next one is late September. If you’re interested in signing up, call 508-645-9085.

Tuesdays are Lobster-Rolls-to-Go evenings at the Chilmark Community Church, from 4:30 to 7 pm or until they run out. Sundays at 5 pm, stop by the church and enjoy Lia Kahler playing meditative piano for anyone wanting to pause from summer overload. All are welcome. Also be sure to stop by the Chilmark Flea on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 9 am to 2 pm.

Back Yard Bash is back, and better than ever. Come out and support your local Chilmark Fire Department on Wednesday, August 3, from 5 to 8 pm at the CCC field. Great food; music by Alex Karalekas and others; T-shirts, hoodies, and Chilmark F.D. hats in all sizes; a raffle and a 50/50 pot. Remember volunteers are always welcome, it’s never too late to join the Chilmark Fire Department.

Do not miss Meet the Fleet, Thursday, August 4, from 4 to 7 pm at the commercial dock in Menemsha, hosted by the Martha’s Vineyard Fisherman’s Preservation Trust. Get a close-up look at the commercial fleet and other Island boats, with current and retired fishermen available to answer questions and offer demonstrations in their trade. Enjoy tours aboard eastern-rig dragger Roann from Mystic Seaport; crab races, a touch tank, and other activities for kids; filleting demonstrations; a net-mending competition; a shucking demonstration, plus samples; T shirts, hats, and stickers for sale; a raffle; live music and more. The event highlights commercial fishing on the Vineyard, which faces an uphill battle with complicated state and federal regulations and rising costs.

Stop by the Chilmark Library on Wednesday, August 3, at 5 pm to hear cultural anthropologist Richard Shweder speak about a proposal before the American Anthropological Association to boycott Israeli universities. Learn about the history of this proposal and its ramifications. Shweder is the William Claude Reavis Distinguished Service Professor of Human Development at the University of Chicago. Come back on Saturday to meet artist Jeanette Demeestere at her opening of “Lives of Girls and Women,” an exhibition of paintings and collages. Demeestere exhibited work previously at the library in 2013 and 2009. She divides her time between Chilmark and Paris, where she exhibits her work and is a professor of American Literature at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques.

Have a good week.