Mermaid Farm goodies–Marnely Murray

Small Business Saturday falls on November 28th this year, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and it’s the perfect time to strengthen the Island’s local economy by promoting the importance of small businesses. Because the reality is that supporting local businesses isn’t just about shopping, it’s about investing in the well-being of our community. When we purchase something on Island, the money stays on Island, and that sentiment is what you’ll read about throughout this November feature. Focusing specifically on food and drink businesses on Island that you can support, whether it’s shopping for your kitchen pantry, Sunday dinner with family, or purchasing a gift for the holidays, local food businesses have a lot to bring to the table this year. 

Building an Island Pantry

Working on putting together a succinct list of local items to build your pantry isn’t easy, so please note that the list below is not a complete list of everything you can purchase on Island to build out your pantry, fridge, freezer, and kitchen tabletops. It’s a select list of some of the ones we keep going back to, time and time again. It comes down to the fact that behind each and every product below, there’s a community member we know: Todd, Heidi, Katie, Trish, Simon, Dan, Rebecca, and Rose, just to name a few. This is the coffee we reach for every morning, the bread we slice for toast, the meat we simmer for a winter stew, the honey we put in our bedtime tea, and the flowers we bring to a friend that’s feeling sad. When Island-made products become a part of our everyday life, and when we become a part of that businesses’ success, it’s a win-win situation for everyone. 

Pantry

Fridge

For the table

Building an Island-Grown Gift Closet

There are two types of people: the ones that by November 1st have all their holiday gifts shopped for and wrapped, and the others, who only start thinking about said gifts the moment they finish cleaning up Thanksgiving dinner. I’m “the others” in this scenario and I am trying to get better at this. That’s why in the past few years, I’ve slowly started building out a “gift closet” and stay with me, it’s not as grandiose as it sounds. It’s a shelf in one of my kitchen cabinets that I dedicate to collecting potential gifts, just in case one needs a gift as they’re running out of the house. 

Whether I’m meeting someone for lunch and want to bring them a little something, or I forget a friend’s birthday, this “gift closet” saves my life time and time again. What you’ll find in this closet varies from items I’ve bought at Chicken Alley Thrift Store and know that I can repurpose into a gift idea, to items that have been gifted to me that I know I’ll never use. Yes, I definitely am not ashamed of re-gifting and I consider it a sustainable activity – giving something a home when your own home isn’t it. The third level of gifts in my gift closet are brand new gifts I’ve bought with the exact purpose of saving it for a future gift. Trying to keep them to $30 and under, here’s a list of things that have worked out for me: 

  1. Katama Candle Company: a 4 oz hand-poured soy candle in a scent like Menemsha Sunset, Katama Breeze, or Up-Island Orchard, $30 each. 
  2. Martha’s Vineyard Made Signature Town Ornament: a carved birchwood ornament for any of the six towns, $14 each. 
  3. Flat Point Farm goat milk soap: $10.95 a bar, or $8.95 for a mini. These are easy to keep stocked for small thank-yous. 
  4. Island Bee Company Beeswax Emollient Bar: this is a gift everyone enjoys, especially in the cold winter months when our skin is extra dry $24.95.
  5. Austin Designs aromatherapy eye pillow: $22. It’s a cozy winter gift that most people don’t think of buying for themselves. 
  6. SRS Grunden Pottery small dish: from $18. It works as a ring dish, salt cellar or spoon rest.
  7. Island flour sack towel: $24.99, with Island designs like Menemsha, Edgartown Light, Ferry and Vineyard Oysters. 

This list above is a general idea of the type of gifts I tend to stock, because a jar of local honey packaged in a thrifted small basket from Chicken Alley, makes me look like I have my life in order. The love language of gift giving is one that goes beyond the materialistic desire of accumulating things, but of the deeper intention of showing people you thought about them and wanted to make them feel loved. The feeling grows deeper when the gift is thoughtfully procured from a local maker in my opinion. 

Building an Island First Habit 

After building an Island pantry and an Island gift closet, what’s next? For me, it’s building an “Island First” habit. It’s one that should be easy living in such a close knit community and here’s the premise. Whenever you need anything, consider how the Island can provide it first, before searching online or off-Island. Here’s the thought process I suggest, easily editable to what works best for you and your family:

  1. Realizing I need an item or ingredient, my first line of defense are my close friends. Shamelessly, I ask around to see if someone has it and can share it with me, or if I can purchase it from them. You’d be surprised to know how much your own friends keep stocked. 
  2. If none of my close friends have it, I’ll put a call out online and see if any of my online acquaintances have the item or ingredient. This usually gets some hits and people are more than happy to get rid of things they have in their own home. 
  3. If neither of the above work, I’ll check the thrift stores and at this point, if neither my close friends nor the thrift stores have it, I’m buying it locally. 
  4. Check local stores for the item you need and support an Island business before considering buying off Island or online. 

Does this all sound incredibly altruistic? Yes, I know it does. But the truth is that we all want a village, but we need to be more open to being villagers and that’s what I’d love to see more of on Martha’s Vineyard. Just last week I asked my neighbor Aaron to borrow his baking powder because mine was seemingly expired and I needed to bake a cake that day. Could I have ran to the store and bought baking powder? Yes, ultimately I had to since I want to have this key ingredient for my holiday baking, but here’s the thing. Asking for help builds community.  Lending a helping hand builds the Island. 

Consider shopping local this Small Business Saturday, building a pantry, a gift closet, and a habit that will not only show our local businesses the love, but also build the community in ways unimaginable. 

This article is published as a part of The Grapevine — a monthly email newsletter dedicated to our local events and culinary scene by Jenna Sylvia with culinary contribution by Marnely Murray. Click here to subscribe to the newsletter.

Sylvia and Murray also work in the Island’s hospitality and business community. Sylvia is co-founder and owner of Coastal Events MV, a local event coordination and production company. Murray owns Shored Up Digital, a local digital marketing agency. For transparency, further information about their businesses is available at coastaleventsmv.com and shoredupdigital.com. These professional roles inform their firsthand perspectives on the industry. Their contributions to the Grapevine are exclusively editorial and are subject to The MV Times’ oversight.

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