Nature & Science
Moonlight Paddle
Felix Neck offers a paddle by moonlight on Friday and Saturday evenings, August 15 and 16, from 7 to 9 p.m. You can see Sengekontacket pond in a new light, moon light, as you kayak with a guide on the pond as the moon rises. The program is open to ages 11 and up with an adult. The cost is $38, or $32 for Mass Audubon members. Registration is required. For details, call 508-627-4850.
On Wednesday, August 13, at 7:30 p.m. the Polly Hill Arboretum welcomes Ellie Altman as guest speaker for the 11th annual David H. Smith Memorial Lecture. Her lecture, Gardening Earth’s Green Mantle, focuses on land stewardship practices that foster a healthier and more beautiful world for all living things. She expands the definition of gardening to embrace conservation concerns: ecological restoration, land development, agriculture, and habitat protection to inspire the adoption of a land ethic.
On Tuesday, August 12, and Saturday, August 16, the Polly Hill Arboretum will offer two tours highlighting native trees and plants. On August 12 from 10 to 11 a.m. join Karin Stanley, arboretum staff member and amateur historian, for a tour of native trees and shrubs on the grounds. Knowing the cultural history of these plants gives them an identity that distinguishes them from “just part of the woods.” Learn the wide range of uses these plants have had over the years and how this reflects the history of the human societies that have used them.
Bring the Grandparents
The Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation will sponsor its fourth annual grandparents and grandchildren day on Thursday at the Native Earth Teaching Farm on North Road in Chilmark. The event takes place from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Enjoy a fun-filled morning working on the farm. Meet some baby animals and learn about organic farming. For information call 508-693-5207.
The big wooden doors of the Chicama Vineyards shop closed for the last time Sunday evening at two minutes past five. The shelves of the shop, once stocked with wines made from the grapes grown outside and vinegars infused with that wine, were empty, or nearly so. Hundreds of people stopped in over the weekend to celebrate the end of an adventure in farming and business begun 37 years ago by the late George and Catherine Mathiesen.
On Sunday, with the turn of a lock, that adventure came to a close. It was a bittersweet ending.
By MARK ALAN LOVEWELL
The days this summer for eating locally caught fluke on the Vineyard are coming to a close.
Fluke, also called summer flounder, are a flat fish. Their fillets are white and tasty, and most come from Vineyard Sound. Since the start of the summer, fluke have been the catch of the day.
On Tuesday, the state closed the commercial season for landing fluke, based on projected estimates that the state quota had been met.
Almanac
A comprehensive guide to weather and tides on the Island.
Vineyard Gardener
I guess this past week weather-wise is called a January thaw. We did not really experience it the last several years as December was unseasonably warm.
Farm & Field
Beige and brown and tan and black, with horns spiraled or semicircular or in undulating waves, a legion of goats marched up the hill toward us, bleating in anticipation of fresh grass and leaves.