This month I worked with Holly Bellebuono, a local herbalist, and Catherine Walthers, a local food author, on a piece for Martha’s Vineyard Magazine on wild edibles.. It is the second of a three part series on foraging for food on the island. This article features yummy edibles such as purslane, lambs quarters, and red clover.

It’s early Summer on the island, time for the first fruits of the year -strawberries. I recently visited local farmer Andrew Woodruff at Whippoorwill Farm in Oak Bluffs to do some picking in his fields. He grows strawberries every year for the 500 members of his Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. My kids and I walked carefully down the rows, on the lookout for ripe crimson berries hidden under leaves, and we gathered enough to take home for strawberry smoothies and muffins.

These photos of our strawberries accompanied an article written by Ali Berlow for Cape Cod Life, published for the summer issue 2009.

This month I worked with Holly Bellebuono, a local herbalist, and Catherine Walthers, a local food author, on a piece for Martha’s Vineyard Magazine on wild edibles. It is the first of a three part series on foraging for food on the island. This article features yummy edibles such as mustard, dandelion, and watercress.

In the summer of 2008 Ali Berlow and I worked together on a piece for Martha’s Vineyard Magazine about island honeybees. The featured beekeeper, Tim Colon, is committed to producing honey that is pure and local. He keeps his harvest separated by town, so you can taste how the flora of West Tisbury is different from that of Chilmark. He also breeds his own queen bees, instead of ordering them from commercial sources, in an effort to foster strong honeybees that are adapted to our island environment. I had a great time watching Tim and his son Oscar extract the golden nectar in his honey house.