Our Fall 2016 Issue

Grist for the Mill

We didn’t realize until creating the layout for our cover that this is our 50th issue of Edible Cape Cod, which makes this our golden anniversary. We tend to mark the passage of time at Edible by the number of years we’ve been publishing (this is our twelfth, for the record), not the number of issues. But it amazes us how quickly the years have passed since we launched our first issue. And, we’ve managed to do so without revisiting the same story subjects—at least too frequently. Our local food shed keeps evolving and proliferating such that there is always someone or something new to introduce to you. Beyond superb seafood and increasingly diverse farms (we are gaining ground on raising livestock), we now have an expanding craft beverage industry (three breweries, a couple of wineries, a craft distillery, coffee roasters, juice makers) and so many fabulous food artisans it’s hard to keep up with them. In particular in the past few years, we’ve witnessed a bumper crop of talented bakers. Recently the spectacular desserts made by the Cake & Islands husband-baker/wife-decorator team of Steve and Carolyn Graves caught our eye, so we assigned Cori Egan to photograph their swoon-worthy confections. You may recognize Cori’s surname, as her husband Larry Egan has been a long-time contributor to these pages. She’s been quietly contributing to ECC behind the scenes as Larry’s editor and sometime photographer. We’ve managed to coax her out of the shadows with her own byline about Cake & Islands’ edible art.

Elsewhere, Larry Egan introduces us to the woman behind Annie’s Crannies, who has an interesting backstory. From our very first story subject (Kofi Ingersoll, who graduated from college with a major in Chinese and spent four years studying and teaching in Taiwan before returning to farm the land purchased by his great grandmother in 1906) to Annie Walker, who spent twenty-five years as a production wardrobe supervisor on Broadway before returning to Dennis to reclaim her grandfather’s cranberry bog, we’ve never ceased to be surprised by the lives they’ve led before turning to work land or sea for their livelihood.

When we do revisit a story subject, it’s to reveal some new aspect of their business, or in this case, new facet to their personality. Tim Friary, owner of Cape Cod Organic Farm, is no stranger to these pages. When he was on the cover of our spring 2009 issue, he was just expanding his operation to include raising organic, heritage breed pigs. Tim once again graces our cover (albeit not his face this time) to accompany a Notable about his third annual Harvest to Feed the Hidden Hungry Project. Recognizing that many people cannot afford fresh seasonal produce, Friary has dedicated fields on his farm to growing nutritious, long-storage vegetables for thirty local food pantries. We were so impressed with this hardworking farmer making time during his busiest season to think of others that we had to put it on the cover. If you are on Cape Cod this September, please consider lending Tim a hand to help harvest, box and deliver this precious product.