Rhode Island Feeds

Customers that walk in to the sunlit Cottage are usually greeted by the small and friendly Pesos, a champagne-colored terrier rescued from Mexico who has made a comfortable home in the only fine home furnishings boutique around. And it’s no wonder he likes it here. The Cottage in Tiverton Four Corners is a modern lifestyle haven featuring two floors of soft, classic, and bold colors and fabrics, lovely floral scents, fresh wood accents and elegent music for inspirational browsing. While Pesos spends his time lounging amidst the tasteful décor, store owner Nancy Heminway and her partners Ivy and Linda are busy prettying the shop to perfection.

Nancy, Ivy, and Linda have been working together for over 15 years, and The Cottage has been a local staple for even longer, but even if you’re a regular customer here you will never see the same display twice. These three women make daily styling changes to the windowsills, table-tops, and furniture sets in store in order to keep up with a high demand for their goods, and provide customers with a fresh perspective each time they visit.  “We take care of the merchandise.”

Personal attention to the pristine details make shopping at this home furnishings boutique feel something like a guilty pleasure, but it can be a treat for your wallet too; we’re competitive in prices, says Nancy. The store mostly carries high-end and luxury products, but their quality and value are assuredly the best you will find, not to mention the sale room. Names like Mitchell Gold and Lee Industries, Simon Pierce, and Bella Notte line the shelves, and most everything they carry is American-made. The Cottage also specializes in exclusive imports, like the Florence-made fragrance line Officina Profumo. One of the most unique traits of this store can be found behind the well-placed scenes: Everything, including furniture, is stocked, which means whatever you see in- store can be taken home with that same day. A wonderfully gratifying perk for shoppers.

Customer satisfaction and innovative design are part of Nancy’s roots. Before opening The Cottage she worked for Design Research, the Boston-based lifestyle retailer known most noteably as the first home for modern American design. DR introduced lifestyle stores to the world of retail with popular brands like Merimekko and Alvar Aalto. Trading in the big name for the small boutique life has proven rewarding for Nancy and her team. They gracefully weave together an intelligent eye for design, expertise in elegant home fashion, and the gentle pace of the Tiverton countryside. The Cottage carries everything for the home from cookbooks to dish soap, rugs, to popular local art work. They also offer in-home design services as well as merchandise loans to ensure every product is the right fit.

Award winning and stunning the The Cottage blissfully remains the closest thing to home as you will find while out shopping….for person and pooch alike.

A well-kept springtime secret is being uncovered by local visitors in search of a fresh dose of spring. Growing in the backyard of FarmCoast, just south of Russells Mills Village, you will find a vibrant field of daffodils…but only if you know where to look! 3 acres of glorious yellow daffodils have bloomed and, because New Englanders like to keep their treasures hidden, there are no signs on how to find the field. It remains tucked inside the paths of Parson’s Preserve –part of Dartmouth’s Natural Resourses Trust– creating an exciting springtime scavenger hunt for outdoor enthusiasts of all ages. If you’re looking for a seasonal family outing follow our directions to this wonderful spring display!

Park at the Russells Mills Landing.
Cross the street and walk to your right along the road until you see a metal farm gate between two posts.
Follow the path to the left of the gate and up the hill.
At the top of the hill you will be greeted by a DNRT sign welcoming you to the preserve.
From that point you must follow the yellow squares tacked to the trees, they will lead you all the way to the daffodils…

“A host of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees. Fluttering and dancing in the breeze,” says William Wordsworth’s poem just as you enter the field. “I gazed –and gazed –but little thought what wealth to me this show had brought…” You might want tell your friends about this dancing garden, or just keep it as your own secret treasure.

Either way, families will enjoy a delightful gallivant through the fields. You can make a day of it by contining your hike through the DNRT woods (maps are provided at the first yellow marker), exploring the animals at nearby Alderbrook Farm, and stopping lunch in Padanaram Village. Going on a hunt for daffodils has never been more fun.

Spring has sprung on FarmCoast! Visit our Spring Ramble page for more day-trip ideas on a refreshing retreat to the country.

A fresh cup of coffee and hot breakfast, like most other things in New Enlgand, come with a long history, especially if your griddle-compainion of choice are jonnycakes. These sweet little cakes are made from ground corn meal, a tradition that dates back to colonial New England when travelers would fill small knapsacks with the ground meal as food for a long journey. Some think a variation of spelling over time is what started the name jonnycakes, but others remain skeptical. Even Gray’s can’t say for sure where the namecomes from, but what they do know is that Rhode Island is (or should be) the only place to get the goods. Started over 300 years ago, Gray’s Grist Mill is still grinding this Rhode Island breakfast staple, celebrating a tradition that intrigues and delights rhody locals and neighbors alike.

Thorton Simmons and wife Mary now operate this historic mill/museum located on the thin line between Westport, MA and Adamsville, RI. Recently mentioned on the Today Show, the famous mill has gone through several owners since it’s first documented ownership in 1717, and each has been devoted to the outstanding preservation of this once-mainstream occupation. Long ago, (centuries really) grist mills were the thing. Each town had it’s own, and each mill provided livelihood to the growing populations. Today grist mills are as rare as people like Thorton and Mary who devote their time to the history and labor. However, with the help of a few modern accessories like an electric motor (mills were once powered by water), the work is little lighter. Despite some advances, the mill stands true to its roots; it makes good use of two 1 ½ ton stones to crush corn kernels for one thing.

Narragansett Indian Flint corn, is the corn of choice. This hard-to-grow variation of corn is best nurtured in Rhode Island soil; its uniquely sweet flavor makes for a sweet breakfast, and a proud crop of Rhode Islanders. Rhode Islanders are not the only ones who know a good thing when they see it; chefs and local cafes across the region stock Gray’s jonnycake mix for hungry customers.The best part: the mix ground fresh, is preservative-free making it one of the most all-natural, all-local foods you can get your hands on. The modern miller recommends keeping your mix in the fridge.

Whether your going to get some fresh breafast or to tour the history of the mill, a stop at Gray’s is worth the journey. Thorton even says there’s talk of a coffee shop in the Mill’s future, a chance to make this stop on the FarmCoast a little sweeter.

To get an insider’s perspective on the workings of the oldest New England Grist Mill, and a few delicious recipes, visit www.graysgristmill.com.

Creeping into the essence of our culture is a not-so-new food movement where salad is picked from the backyard, honeys and jellies are collected in kitchen jars, and whisky’s distilled in big stainless pots; ”The small farmer is the new gastronomic superhero,” says NPR’s Bonny Wolf. Another popular food expert is no stranger to the heroism of local farmers. Didi Emmons, the Boston-based “roving Eco-chef” found one farming superhero worth shadowing for over 10 years. The result: her new cookbook, Wild Flavors, featuring all the nitty-gritty details about one glorious garden, and the flavors that bring bushels of popular, smitten chefs to Eva Sommaripa’s bounty.

Eva is not your average 70-year-old, and not your typical farmer either. Perhaps that’s what drew Didi like a magnet to the unconventional farm in South Dartmouth back in 2001. Known as Eva’s Garden, the farm was then building a solid customer base of renowned New England chefs excited by the innovative flavors grown by Eva and her team. Like many local farmers and FarmCoast residents, Eva found a sanctuary in the fertility of the coastal land. After traveling back and forth to Cambridge restaurants in the early stages of her farming operation, top chefs quickly propelled Eva to a celebrity status.

In her garden, weeds are a delicacy, and plants you’ve never heard of make dishes to die for. While Eva’s Garden has over 200 varieties of wild flowers, herbs, and greens, Wild Flavors features over 40 of the common and uncommon varieties, and 150 recipes to enjoy them. If you’ve resolved to eat more vegetables this year, this book will certainly give you a jolt of enthusiasm.  The book is divided into seasons with recipes to suit the theme of whats growing at any given time. Didi’s picks for winter (themed, “Salvaging”) include dishes like Parsnip Tea Cake, Root Vegetable Latkes, and Sprouted Hummus. Between the recipes, Didi details the life cycle and botany of the ingredients, and the story of the inspiring woman who grows the plants. Eva’s gained significant press over the years for the same superhero qualities Didi found in her ten years ago. A complete blend of cooking instruction, narrative, botany, and foodie life coaching, Wild Flavors is a robust addition to your cookbook collection.

Pick up a copy of the book and see for yourself why everyone’s talking about Eva, and better yet what Eva’s talking about. ”There are so many forms of life…that’s the most exciting part of the whole thing,” she says. Wild Flavors reveals the succulent truths about a life digging for treasures in the dirt. The book itself is a worthy FarmCoast treasure.

Wild Flavors is available at The Cottage in Tiverton Four Corners and Partners Village Store in Westport, MA and at your local book seller. For more information on Didi Emmon’s life in the world of good food visit www.didiemmons.com.