garden
The Slough Garden is an evolving fixture of the organization where community engagement and food production come together. We focus our efforts on producing healthy, high-yielding plants by growing the soil and supporting the whole ecosystem of the Garden.
In our work, we aim to be efficient and mighty by taking on a holistically considerate Market Garden approach.
Cultivating one and a quarter acre between two plots, the Slough Garden uses no-till, organic practices to grow a full seasonal range of vegetables and cut flowers. Our level of production relies on a systematic rotation of crops, annual heavy compost application, disturbing the soil structure as little as possible and promoting photosynthesis in fallow beds through cover cropping. We rely on our own hands over mechanized tools and integrate intentional plantings to attract pollinators and beneficial fauna.
Our goal is to be varied and abundant in what we produce while maintaining an active, vibrant and welcoming space.
Our unique location
Slough Farm is situated on historic farmland on the outwash plains of Katama, on Martha’s Vineyard’s South Shore.
The height of our growing season runs from June through October. The Island climate perpetually varies between wet and windy, and gloriously mild. We enjoy long summer days that meld into warm, abundant autumns. Humidity is a constant. Nor’easters are an annual threat. Responding to the elements of oceanside growing is a continuous learning curve that informs how we design and plan every year.
Outreach
Slough Farm partners with the Island’s network of programs working to promote food equity.
Everything grown on the Farm is either used in our on-site programming or donated. The food we distribute supports prepared food for seniors, children and other vulnerable populations, helps keep highly trafficked “mini pantries” stocked and fills in gaps at the Food Pantry. These efforts brings focus to our growing practices as we aim to produce the varieties that best meet the needs of those we serve.
Our Partners include:
The Martha’s Vineyard Boys and Girls Club
The West Tisbury Library’s “Community Freedge”
The Edgartown Council on Aging at The Anchors
Martha’s Vineyard Community Services
Martha’s Vineyard Center for Living
The Island Food Pantry
The Island Schools
Harbor Homes
Island Health Care
The Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society
The Trustees at The Farm Institute
GROWTH over time
Each year, we look to strengthen and clarify our work in the Garden. Since its inception, the growing space has more than doubled in size. Through practices both developed and borrowed we have improved our soil fertility and virtually eliminated the use of organic insecticides.
We’ve spent five seasons gradually expanding our infrastructure to extend the growing season and allow for more experimental crop trials. Between four different tunnel structures we are able to actively grow food all 12 months of the year, plant overwintering flowers and vegetables allowing for earlier spring harvests, support high trellis need crops like peas, beans and tomatoes, provide a long season warm climate to heat loving vegetables, and protect our cucumbers from disease-spreading, damaging pests.
Flowers
Front and center in our larger garden plot is a dedicated space for cut flower growing. Flowers entered into the crop plan in 2021, adding a radiant level of beauty to the Garden while expanding our impact.
In the height of summer we host weekly Family Flower U-Pick and “Cut Flower Club” programs. The latter being a “make one, take one” opportunity for participants to arrange bouquets for Hospice and Palliative Care of Martha’s Vineyard as well as for themselves. In 2025 we began partnering with Second Bloom MV to extend their season of floral donations. We see the flower field as a dynamic element of the Garden’s generosity- cultivating simple joys and offering a way to enjoy the Farm without getting too down and dirty.
OUR agricultural community
We feel lucky to be amongst a strong agricultural community rich with generations of knowledge. A key component of Slough Farm’s mission is to support other farmers and non-profits here on Martha’s Vineyard. This takes the shape of sharing resources and tools, hosting visiting educators and experts, and contributing to events and programs across the island. Our status as a non-profit allows us the flexibility to experiment in our own practices and share our experiences with our fellow farmers.
In this way we hope our work will preserve and replenish the health of our own farmland while contributing to best practices on the Island at large.
Community Donations
Slough Farm takes pride in our ability to share our bounty with those in need on our island. Anything we do not use on site for programming, makes its way across the island to a variety of food equity partners and non profit organizations. While we are not a large scale producer, we have worked hard to regeneratively grow and raise as much as we can on the 80 acres we farm. We prioritize our food going to places that can make the biggest impact. Our donations shift with the seasons and we are so grateful to our partners who accept and utilize what we have, when we have it.
Donation outlets include but not limited to, Island schools and preschools, YMCA of MV, Council on Aging, Hospice of MV, MV Boys and Girls Club, The Anchors, Island Food Pantry, MV Center for Living, Serving Hands, MV Libraries, Kinship Heals, Island Grown Initiative, Chilmark community lunch, The Farm Institute and Produce RX.