What if the secret to happiness lay right outside your kitchen door? In a pretty little garden, full of delicious things to eat. It might sound far-fetched to suggest that a kitchen garden can relieve stress, lift your mood, and even ease depression, but new studies suggest there’s a scientific basis – perhaps even a soil bacterium that elevates serotonin – for the pleasure we can get from digging in the dirt.
Susie Middleton
The Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation is now in its second season of using goats to clear invasive Asiatic bittersweet vines from Cedar Tree Neck. That decision was mostly a logistical one. “We were just brainstorming different ways to manage the neck because it’s really hard to access with machinery to mow,” said Kristen Fauteux, director of stewardship for Sheriff’s Meadow.
Ivy Ashe
Prudy Burt swung her Toyota Tacoma off of North Road and onto the shoulder. She traipsed confidently through the brush, pushing branches out of her way as she headed for Mill Brook. A Burt-led tour of the brook is both history lesson and gossip column, environmental report and storytelling session. She names each pond and knows the property owner responsible for every dam (and whether their children like to fish).
Heidi Sistare
Perched above Lambert’s Cove Road in West Tisbury, with views across the wetlands to Vineyard Sound and the Elizabeth Islands, The Folly is Friederike and Jeremy Biggs’s unexpected paean to classical Italian living. Their two-story stucco villa and surrounding seventeen acres reflect the couple’s passion for travel, art, romance, whimsy, comfort, and natural beauty. And while post-and-beam architecture and weathered shingles may be more the norm on Martha’s Vineyard, the Biggses have somehow managed to make their Folly appear right at home.
Karla Araujo
Martha’s Vineyard is not particularly hospitable when it comes to fruit trees.
Susan Catling
A longtime Vineyard blueberry farmer shares pointers for cultivating this antioxidant-rich fruit, and we offer some tasty recipes too.
Catherine Walthers
A gardener’s tale of creating an old-fashioned romantic garden for actors Mary Steenburgen and Ted Danson.
Peggy Schwier
Five ways to brighten gardens with color and texture during the dormant season.
Tim Boland
