MERMAID FARM

On a spontaneous adventure around the farms of Martha’s Vineyard, we discovered Mermaid Farm and Dairy in Chilmark. It comes up quick on Middle Road, but one can’t miss the steady stream of visitors coming and going. Climbing out of the truck we laid our eyes on the sights at Mermaid Farm; a teeny tiny farm stand, a border collie waiting for the next willing participant in a game of fetch, a farmer in a straw hat, rows of seedlings, and cattle on the hill in back. We struck up a conversation Caitlin Jones (the farmer in the straw hat) who owns and operates Mermaid Farm along with her husband Allen Healy. Caitlin was intrigued by our story, and our ability to transform freshly tilled fieldstones into something valuable and useful. We thoroughly enjoyed talking with Caitlin as she showed us around the farm; where she grows tomato seedlings, the old stone foundation on the house, the cheeses they offer in the stand (yum!), the sheep, and the cattle that produce the farm’s delicious raw milk and cheese products. Caitlin stepped away to help a customer with tomato plants and left us to focus on the fieldstones. The hill where the cattle roamed was home to many large rocks barely movable by hand, while we found lots of smaller stones in the vegetable fields. We filled the truck with as many stones as it could handle, and headed out. It’s always inspiring to meet dedicated farmers like Allen and Caitlin. To learn more about their story, check out their facebook page.