With a farm stand that has become a Martha's Vineyard institution (attracting everyone from celebrities and islanders to foodies and restauranteurs), Morning Glory Farms was started 30 years ago when the Athearn family bought a tractor and set up a table to sell their vegetables. The story of the Athearns and their family farm -- plus 70 recipes inspired by their produce -- can be found in the new book “Morning Glory Farm and the Family That Feeds an Island” by Tom Dunlop, with photographs by Alison Shaw.

Here, in an excerpt from the book, are some tips from Morning Glory Farm on picking the perfect ear of corn along with a recipe for corn muffins (as we enter these last few weeks of corn season):

The crop that invariably earns so much affection at Morning Glory is the corn. So what makes Morning Glory corn snap with such exceptional sweetness in the mouth? According to the Athearns, you can answer this question three ways—none of them perfectly correct by themselves. The first is the types of corn they grow. After thirty years in the business, the family relies on ten or twelve varieties, bred to various degrees of sweetness. When there are two types on sale at the farm stand, customers often ask Jim Athearn which is the sweetest. He answers, “Well, this one is, but maybe that’s not the question you want to ask. Maybe it’s, ‘Which one tastes better?’” Among his favorite varieties is Silver Queen. It’s neither as sweet nor as tender as Delectable, a popular sugar-enhanced variety; still, it has “a character to its flavor that I’ve been trying to describe to people for years, but haven’t managed to.” The second factor: how it’s harvested. (Click "read more" for whole post and corn muffin recipe.)

If there is one thing that all gardeners share, it's a need to save their backs from all the lifting and bending that goes along with tending their gardens. The Ubuntu restaurant in Napa uses produce from its own biodynamic garden and shares space with its own yoga studio, thus providing an ideal place to learn how to create bodies as sustainable as our gardens.

Here are some tips from Ubuntu Yoga Instructor Courtney Willis on how to create a strong and flexible back through a some Yoga Flow for Gardeners.

• Standing on your feet, reach the arms out and up bring the palms together way above the head, saluting the sun.

• Slowly, bend the knees and bring your hands to the Earth, relax the head and breath here, working on extending the hips upward.

• Lying on your back and bend the legs. Lift the hips and wiggle your shoulders under the back until you can clasp the hands. For a therapeutic variation. you can bring the hands to the hips, fingers facing outward.

• This pose is an important counter pose for all the forward bending you do in the garden.

• From here, release the spine to the Earth, create a 'T' with your arms and slowly drop your legs to one side and bring you gaze to the opposite arm.  

• Repeat on the other side.

This gentle sequence is accessible to every BODY and can be done before AND after a day in the garden.

For more information on Ubuntu Restaurant & Yoga Studio, visit http://ubuntunapa.com/

As a way to continue living into its motto of “Food with Integrity,” the Chipotle restaurant chain recently announced a commitment to source at least 35 percent of its produce, including bell peppers, jalapenos, romaine lettuce and red onions, from within 200 miles of each restaurant (the industry average is 1,500 miles) This is an increase of 10 percent last year before, when the program was initiated.

I recently spoke with Chris Arnold, a spokesperson for Chipotle, on the program, how they keep the ingredients consistent and tips for home gardeners on working with peppers and chilies. He was also nice enough to give us their recipe for spicy guacamole (click "read more" and the recipe will be at the bottom of the post).

What made you decide to embark on this program?

We have been on a journey for about the last 10 years looking to find more sustainable sources for all of the ingredients that we use. It started by using naturally raised pork and has grown from there. We serve more naturally raised meat than any restaurant in the world. Now we have been increasing the amounts of organic and locally grown produce – and have committed to buying at least 35 percent of at least one produce item from local farms. The food tastes better and it’s better for the animals and the environment.