Edible Garden, August 2013

Peas, pumpkins, onions and coriander seed from the garden

While I was in the States in July, I found my new favourite food magazine, Edible Vineyard. It’s exactly the sort of publication I like – gorgeous photos; stylish, snappy articles on interesting people, places and phenomena (Americans seem to do this sort of journalism extremely well) and a carefully chosen set of recipes. It is also, somehow, free. The title is based in Martha’s Vineyard but is part of a wider US series called Edible Communities, which, according to its publishers, seeks to create ‘editorially rich, community-based, local-foods publications in distinct culinary regions throughout the United States and Canada’. The reason Edible Vineyard is such a great read is that while it is set on an island of much natural culinary bounty (lots of locally-grown fruit and vegetables and herbs; fresh fish and seafood) it is also just set in a highly distinct region, a holiday island that both holidaymakers and year-round residents call their own; a place that is equal parts artsy, moneyed and ordinary, and also all three at the same time.

Two Edible Vineyard articles in particular sum up the odd, charming blend of the place – one taking the swooping, painterly style that well-educated American authors adopt when discussing their family life, and the other a nice, plain piece on a fundraiser for the island hospital.