This past Friday, the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society hosted its first annual Farm Day, inviting guests of all ages to go behind the scenes and see how the Island’s local food is grown.
The day-long celebration of Island agriculture was held onsite at seven Island farms — Beetlebung Farm, Island Grown Initiative Regenerative Farm, Native Earth Teaching Farm, North Tabor Farm, Morning Glory Livestock and Vegetable Farm, and Whippoorwill Farm.
Lucy Grinnan, program and outreach manager for the Ag Society, was at five of the seven tours. While this is their first annual Farm Day, Grinnan is hoping that there will be many more in upcoming years.
“Farming is really hard work, and it’s a really specialized skill set that coexists with running your own business,” said Grinnan. “I was hoping that being able to show people what they do would allow farmers to really take in that this is impressive work, for them to feel proud of what they do because I think it is really special.”
Grinnan said interest in farming extends well beyond those who work the land.
“Like a lot of different industries, the closer that you get to it, the more that you understand how they’re making choices and how they are building their businesses, and building their soil, and you know … the more you see, the more impressive it becomes,” Grinnan said.
They hope that Farm Day will shine a light on the dedication that goes behind farming on Island. Whether that be growing flowers and produce or harvesting meats, dairy and eggs, they hope that summer visitors and locals alike can appreciate the unique opportunity Island farms offer to eat local.
“I think it’s an incredible service to our community that we have so many farms on the Island, and those farmers are making a lot of sacrifices in order to do that work, so it’s definitely important to me for them to feel appreciated.”
While farmers markets and on-site farmstands often carry a higher price tag that other traditional grocery stores, Grinnan encourages those who are able to support the farm economy, acknowledging that it is not easy for farms to operate on the Island.
“We’re really lucky to have all the farms that we do on the Island, and we’re really lucky to have a summer population that is able to pay what a lot of produce and meat that’s grown here is worth. I definitely think that’s important for our farm economy,” said Grinnan. “I do think people can kind of take for granted the fact that those farms exist, and assume that because this is a wealthy place, farmers on the Island must be making a lot of money, which in my experience is not always true, and often not true.”
At North Tabor Farm in Chilmark, about 20 visitors gathered in a small parking lot before setting off on a walking tour led by farm manager Ruby Dix. Dix runs the six-acre family farm with her parents, Rebecca Miller and Matthew Dix, growing everything from heirloom tomatoes and shiitake mushrooms to eggs, greens, and flowers.
“Our farm is pretty private. We don’t offer a lot of tours, so I think it’s nice to show people what’s going on behind the doors. We grow a lot of diverse things, so I think it’s helpful to see how a lot of different food is grown,” said Dix.
North Tabor Farm features an on-site farm stand that carries fresh produce from the property as well as meals made in their commercial kitchen space from the pork, poultry, and vegetables they grow.
As the group moved through rows of sugar snap peas, summer squash, corn, bok choy, strawberries, and more, Dix pointed out that much of what customers buy at the farmstand was harvested within days, sometimes hours.
The tour passed solar panels that offset most of the farm’s energy use, and tomatoes and basil that are companion planted, which is a mutually beneficial gardening method in which plants not only grow well alongside each other but also taste well when eaten together.
After the tour weaved through 100-foot-long rows of strawberries, carrots, and cabbage, we came across 400 chickens whose eggs are sold at the farmers market and keep the farmstand fully stocked; once their egg laying days are over, they are processed and sold for $10 a pound.
“The things that I’m selling were picked maximum 36 hours ago. Some things you’re buying in the grocery store for less money, who knows, they could be up to 3 months old,” said Dix. “The quality you’re getting and the fact that you’re consuming food that was grown less than 20 minutes from you is really unique.”
Towards the end of the tour, Ruby’s father Matthew Dix joined us to share all about the mushroom growing process, bringing guests under a mesh net where the spores bloom into mushrooms aided by both the sun and the runoff water from washing the greens.
A couple hours later, and a few miles down Island, guests gathered at the Morning Glory Livestock field at Katama Farm. Kris Ivory, office and events coordinator with the Ag Society, was excited to be in the small crowd.
“I think it’s important that everybody knows about Island farms and what’s going on,” Ivory said. “It’s important to support your local community, and if you have the choice and the means to do so, it’s wonderful.”
EJ Gomez, livestock assistant at Morning Glory Farm, led the tour, walking guests through the fields towards the cattle pasture, which was home to 60 cattle as well as a dozen or so calves, with one still on the way.
Morning Glory uses a farming method of regenerative grazing, which is different from conventional farming. Regenerative grazing uses livestock to actively pull carbon from the atmosphere and store it in the ground. By mimicking natural herd migrations through frequent rotations, farmers prune grass and trample organic matter into the soil. “The goal is to sequester carbon from the soil,” said Gomez. “We use the cows as a tool.”
Guests walked past chickens and pigs fed with leftover produce from the farmstand before reaching a herd of about 60 cattle and their calves. The animals rotate through pastures, mimicking natural grazing patterns that help rebuild soil structure.
“It’s been an honor to give back to the food system,” said Gomez, who used to work in the restaurant industry and now works in a very different part of the system. “The cattle changed the trajectory of my career and my life.”
Back in Chilmark, Beetlebung Farm manager Ethan Buchanan-Valenti showed visitors how a no-till, regenerative system works in practice. Instead of turning over the soil, the farm relies on compost, cover crops, and mulch to maintain soil health.
“Structure is key to happy soil,” he said.
Walking through rows of greens and hand-planted lettuce, Buchanan-Valenti described the labor behind each crop. “Every Monday, you’ll see a couple of us out here crawling around, plugging in lettuce,” he said.
This is Buchanan-Valenti’s third year at Beetlebung. Previously he spent 13 years at Morning Glory, where he fell in love with farming.
Beetlebung recently got a six-acre lease in West Tisbury, which almost quadrupled the growth. Although the work load will increase, Buchanan-Valenti is excited about the new opportunities that come with the land. “The future is looking bright for Beetlebung,” he added.
While farmstands often serve as picturesque stops for locals and visitors alike, Farm Day aimed to shift the focus from the finished product to the love and labor behind it. By opening their fields, barns, and pastures, Island farmers offered a clearer picture of the process, care, and complexity that goes into every harvest.