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Quote of the Week
"It is so moving to see entire families at the end of the
Clean-up, proud of their hard work and happy to have shared time
together in service."
-- Liza Gonzalez, Nicaragua , regarding the Ocean Conservancy's annual "Trash Free Seas" clean-up event.
Conservation Calendar
Massachusetts Estuaries Projects in Chilmark
Tuesday, Apr 10, 5:00 to 6:30 pm, Chilmark town hall.
Join representatives of the Massachusetts Estuaries Project, Coastal
Systems Program & School of Marine Science & Technology for a
public meeting and Q&A session about projects slated for Chilmark.
Stormwater Management Workshop
Thursday, Apr 12, 8:45 am to 1:00 pm, Edgartown.
From the MA Department of Environmental Protection, and co-sponsored by
the Martha's Vineyard Commission. Free, with refreshments. Call
508-693-3453 to pre-register. At the VTA building in the Airport
Business Park.
Spring at Polly Hill
Saturday, Apr 21, 10:00 am, at the Polly Hill Arboretum.
This time of year our annual flower show begins, with azaleas,
camellias, magnolias and cherries bursting into bloom. Meet at the
Visitor Center. Tours run for a little over an hour. Free. For details, see website or call 508-693-9426.
Rising Water, Rising Concerns:
Climate Change and Sea Level Rise
Thursday, Apr 26, 6:30 pm, Oak Bluffs Library
Geologist Rob Thieler (USGS, Woods Hole) will introduce the fundamentals
of climate change and sea level rise, and describe what the future may
hold for both people and plovers in the coastal zone. Dr. Thieler will
demonstrate how field data and models may be used to develop plover
habitat conservation recommendations that can be implemented by land
managers and inform regulatory authorities. Presented by the Library Friends of Oak Bluffs and Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary. Free. For more information, contact Cristina Pereira at Felix Neck, 508 627-4850.
Notice:
CSA shares currently available at Whippoorwill Farm!
Help sustain local agriculture while maintaining a steady supply of the freshest seasonal produce. Sign up here, or call 508-693-5995 for more information.
In Season Recipe
Lamb Curry
Here’s an idea for anyone with leftover lamb from the past weekend’s
holidays: a quick and easy curry. And if you managed to eat it all,
please see the recipe box in the last Almanac for a list farms offering fresh local lamb.
Ingredients:-
2 tbsp butter
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2 -3 cups cubed cooked lamb
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1 onion
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1 apple, peeled and cored
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1 stalk celery
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2-4 cloves garlic
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2 tbsp Indian curry paste (or curry powder)
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1 cup chicken stock
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1 can tomatoes, chopped
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¼ cup raisins
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salt and pepper (to taste)
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rice
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cilantro (garnish)
Preparation:
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Finely chop the onion, apple, celery, and garlic.
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Melt the butter in a skillet and cook the vegetables until softened but not browned.
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Stir in the curry paste (or substitute curry powder for a milder flavor) and cook while stirring for 1 minute.
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Stir in the chicken stock, tomatoes, and raisins; simmer for two minutes.
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Puree everything in a blender or food processor and pour back into the skillet.
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Add the lamb to the skillet; cover and simmer until the lamb is heated
through, about 10 minutes, adding a little more stock if the sauce is
too thick.
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Serve over rice and garnish with cilantro, if desired.
Note: This can be easily modified into a chunky
vegetable curry for a balanced complete meal. After adding the stock,
but before the tomatoes and raisins, add 1 cup of peas, or 2 cups of cut
green beans, or any other vegetables and cook mostly through, then
continue the recipe. Do not blend the sauce, though -- just mix in the
lamb, heat through, and serve over rice.
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Monday, April 9, 2012
Local News
20th Annual Earth Day Beach Clean-Up
Saturday, April 21
A fine haul on a fine day . . .
On Martha’s Vineyard, our beaches are among our most precious
resources. For 20 years, the Vineyard Conservation Society has helped
protect them by sponsoring the annual Earth Day Beach Clean-Up. On
Saturday, April 21st, from 10 to 12, we invite you to join us at your
favorite beach and make the 20th anniversary the most memorable clean-up
yet.
This is a great event for families -- a wonderful opportunity to get
outside for the first beach day of the year, all while helping out both
our natural and human communities. There will be an after-party at the
Tisbury Wharf Company (on the waterfront in VH) with free refreshments
and pizza from Flatbread Company, as well as free t-shirts from
shirtsbyTed for the kids! (Pizza and shirts while supplies last.)
If you would like to volunteer, please email
or give us a call at the office (508-693-9588). You can also help us
spread the word by printing and posting our posters. Both the full-size
11x17'' poster and a smaller version for regular paper are available for
download; just go to this page and scroll to the bottom.
This year's beaches include:
Aquinnah:
Lobsterville, Philbin, Tribal Beaches
Chilmark:
Squibnocket, Menemsha, Lucy Vincent
Edgartown:
Fuller Street, Wilson’s Landing, Lighthouse Beach, South Beach
(Left & Right Fork), State Beach (Bend in the Road)
Oak Bluffs:
Eastville Point, State Beach (Little Bridge), Town Beach (SSA to Inkwell)
Tisbury:
Lagoon Pond Landing, Lake Street Landing, Tashmoo Opening, Owen Little
Way, Grove Ave Beach, Mink Meadows, Hines Point, Owen Park, VH harbor
(SSA to RM Packer)
West Tisbury:
Cedar Tree Neck, Lambert’s Cove
Extra special thanks to our sponsors, Martha’s Vineyard Savings Bank, Comcast, shirtsbyTed, Flatbread Co., WMVY Radio, and Tisbury Wharf Co., and to our many volunteer beach-cleaning groups:
Church of Latter Day Saints, Cub Scout Packs 90 & 93, Dukes
County Trial Court, Friends of Sengekontacket, Girl Scout Jrs. Troop
802, Harbor View Hotel, Lagoon Pond Association, Mink Meadows Beach
Association, MV Community Services, MV Rod and Gun Club, MV Savings
Bank, MV Surfcasters, Rotary Club of MV, Tisbury School, Tisbury
Waterways Inc., Sassafras, Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation, Squibnocket
Association, Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby, Wampanoag Tribe of Gay
Head (Aquinnah).
Volunteers Needed for Invasive Weed Pulling: Garlic Mustard Must Go!
Garlic mustard plants in flower
The Nature Conservancy, Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation, Polly Hill
Arboretum, and Vineyard Conservation Society are teaming up in an effort
to contain & reduce patches of Garlic Mustard on Martha’s Vineyard.
Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata) is
a very aggressive biennial from Europe that has become widespread in
parts of southern New England. Because it has just arrived on Martha's
Vineyard in the last 10 years, we still have a good chance to limit its
spread.
Wednesday, April 11 (weather permitting), we will be meeting at 9:30 at
the Sheriffs Meadow Sanctuary on Planting Field Way in Edgartown to
tackle the garlic mustard growing there. This is a large patch, so we
can use lots of help. Volunteers should bring drinking water and gloves
if you have them. We’ll provide spare gloves and bags for the yanked
plants.
If you can make it, please RSVP by email
or call 508-274-6919. We are also interested in hearing if there are
other patches that people know about near natural areas. Let us know.
(Thanks to Liz Loucks of The Nature Conservancy for contributing this announcement)
Other News
Protect Wildlife: Help Control Fly-away Balloons
While we’re cleaning beaches next Saturday, one thing we’re sure to find
are balloons. Almost no one would just leave a balloon on the beach, or
anywhere else that they value for its beauty, but what many don’t
realize is that once a balloon gets loose, it usually travels a very
long distance. That’s surely part of the point behind the intentional
mass releases at graduations and other important occasions: the
symbolism of freedom and the promise of travel to unknown distant
places.
With roughly 70% of the Earth’s surface covered by water, it’s no
surprise that – unlike graduating seniors – a great many of these
travelers end up coming to rest in the ocean, contributing to Earth’s
five great ocean garbage patches or to litter on beaches worldwide.
This, from a Q&A in Audubon magazine, summarizes the threats to
wildlife well:
At best, free-flying balloons
become litter; at worst, they jeopardize wildlife. . . . Balloons can
choke, smother, or cause starvation. Their strings and ribbons can cause
entanglement. In water, they bear an uncanny resemblance to jellyfish
and other organisms eaten by turtles, fish, cetaceans, and shorebirds.
Dead sea turtles have washed ashore with balloons hanging from their
mouths, and scientists have found whole balloons and parts of balloons
in whales during necropsies.
The rest of the answer
provides more interesting information, including distances travelled
and various prohibitions. On the other hand, a warning . . . Unless
you’re in the mood for some appallingly ironic examples from the wide
world of mylar balloons, do not click these links.
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