Carrots are coming this week. That’s what I learned when I ran into Amy Shepard at Beetlebung Farm. The best part of running into her was being reintroduced to kohlrabi, also known as German turnip. Amy said it has become her favorite raw dipping vegetable, and she likes to cut into potato chip thin slices. I made a salad of shredded carrot, kohlrabi and thinly sliced cabbage that made my family very happy. I look forward to roasting some with parmesan too.
When I saw the Open Auction sign at Quitsa Road, I followed it all the way to the former “Cliff Cottage.” Chris Cox from Concierge Auctions showed me an old photo of the original cottage, turned it over to share what he considered more amazing than the photograph, the history: “August 1921. Chester M. Poole says that Cliff Cottage was finished in the spring of 1850. It was built by Henry Ripley of Edgartown who married Cynthia Smith, a sister of Capt. Asa and Miss Jemima Smith, of the Smith House.* He built a good many houses in Chilmark. Cliff Cottage was built for Capt. Samuel Blackwell. Ephraim Mayhew, who lived up beyond the Robinson House, towards Gayhead had 14 children. His son, David, after his father’s death inherited the house and lived in it. He had a son named Tristam. After David’s death his widow married Sam’l Blackwell of Nantucket, and, as the old house was quite old, they had a new one built. What is now Cliff Cottage and later it was moved down here (at the Squibnocket end of Quitsa) to its present site.” (Copied from an old notebook written by Alice Stone Blackwell.)
Fencing is up around the old Larsen’s Fish Market, which may already be torn down when you read this. We all look forward to a new Larsen’s Fish Market building to better serve our community. Good luck and we can’t wait to see the new store. Texaco is now open Monday through Friday from 8 am to 5 pm and Saturday through Sunday from 9 am to 3 pm.
Get your tickets asap for “Rizing,” a site-specific work of immersive storytelling and movement by Abby Bender and Jesse Jason in partnership with the MVFF at a private home in Oak Bluffs. The interactive show runs Oct. 29 to 31 and Nov. 5 to 7. Audiences must wear masks. Learn more and buy tickets at eventcreate.com/e/rizing. Tickets are $15.
Check out MV BLM’s new website: mvblm.org/blog-4 and learn about weekly vigils and other community engagement.
The Outermost Inn will begin serving lunch and brunch on Oct. 28, no reservations. Call the Menemsha Fish Market, 508-645-2282, for cooked and live shellfish. Check out the menu at menemshafishmarket.com. Takeout is available at 7a and Alley’s, besides all the wonderful offerings from our farm stands; Beetlebung Farm, Grey Barn, Mermaid Farm, North Tabor Farm, and the Farmers Market, ongoing through Oct. 30. Flowers are available at Menemsha Crossroads Farmstand and Tea Lane Farm.
Ingrid Goff’s store Tending Joy’s autumn hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 10:30 am to 5 pm. Her sister Heather Goff and Bill O’Callaghan’s Island Folk Pottery’s Sculpture Trail is open daily 9 am to 5 pm. The store hours are Wednesday to Saturday, from 11 am to 5 pm, and Sunday, 2 to 5 pm.
Protect yourself and your dog in orange gear, SBS is stocked. No hunting on Sundays, otherwise hunting from a half hour before sunrise to a half hour after sunset. Check info is at mass.gov/hunting-regulations.
Native Earth Teaching Farm’s Wednesday Farm School, 9 am to 1 pm, welcomes home schoolers, pre-schoolers, and their adults through November 18. Drop-ins are welcome. Learn more at http://www.nativeearthteachingfarm.org/.
Chilmark library walk-in hours are Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, 10:30 am to 5 pm, Wednesday, 10:30 am to 5:30 pm, and Friday, 10:30 am to 1:30 pm. Appointments are still required for browsing the children’s room and for computer use. Join author and journalist Martin Gitlin as he explores more than 100 years that greatly impacted society and/or the sports themselves, based on his highly acclaimed book, “Powerful Moments in Sports: The Most Significant Sporting Events in American History,” on Thursday, Oct. 21, at 7pm. Virtual Vineyard Bingo is back with a Halloween edition on Saturday, Oct. 23, at 6 pm. Poet Laureate Jill Jupin discusses the Black Mountain Poets Charles Olson, Robert Creeley, and Robert Duncan on Wednesday, Oct. 27, virtually at 4 pm. Email tthorpe@clamsnet.org for the Zoom links. Take and Make Thursdays continue with autumn leaves luminaria on Oct. 21, and Spooky spider wreath on Oct. 28. For more info contact the library at 508-645-3360 or visit chilmarkma.gov/chilmark-library.
The M.V. Mediation Virtual Book Group is reading Peter Coleman’s “The Way Out: How to Overcome Toxic Polarization.” They meet every other Thursday from noon to 1 pm. Call 508-693-2999 or write info@mvmediation.org for more info and get the link.
The Chilmark Community Church Sunday 9 am services are held outdoors on the patio behind the main church building and on Zoom, connect with us02web.zoom.us/j/8902984151.
Check It’s a Chilmark Thing on Facebook for up-to-date information about our town and Island.
Have a good week.
If you have any Chilmark Town Column suggestions, email Valerie Sonnenthal, vsonnenthal@gmail.com.
