Warding off the Chill

Tiny broccoli florets from the Farm Institute piled high in a bin and sold by the pound. Dark red romaine lettuce and huge heads of unblemished radicchio in shades of scarlet, cream and pale green from Morning Glory Farm. Soft white farmhouse feta from Mermaid Farm. Silky homemade cakes of goat-milk soap from Flat Point Farm.

These were just a few of the offerings at the winter farmers’ market staged at the Agricultural Hall in West Tisbury last weekend, where hundreds of Islanders turned out over the course of several hours to shop and more often than not bump into old friends they had not seen in awhile.

The setting inside the beautiful reconstructed old barn that is the Agricultural Hall was perfect, with a roaring fire in the winter room off the main hall and the Kevin Keady band playing its down-home music as a backdrop.

It is nice to see the farmers’ market expand into the off-season, an ongoing testament to the ever-increasing production activities on small farms on the Island and also the demand among consumers for their wholesome, Island-made products. It is also nice to see the Agricultural Hall in active use for another community event.

All good antidotes to what ails us as a curtain of darkness falls softly over the Island for another winter.