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By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

Stepping into an animal enclosure after dusk on Friday the 13th, I moved slowly among feathery shapes that appeared grey in December’s early darkness. The full moon, low in the sky, was the only light source; the atmosphere was eerie and wholly...

By CHRIS LARABEE

NORTHFIELD — In the spirit of Shakespeare, the public is invited to an informal performance of “The Winter’s Tale,” as the Valley Players bring their “Bard in the Bar” reading series to The Brewery at Four Star Farms.Folks are invited to join the...

By JACOB NELSON

Jared Duval built his farm around Massachusetts’ innovative Healthy Incentives Program (HIP). Since 2017, HIP has helped tens of thousands of lower-income households buy fresh produce grown by local farmers. By most accounts, it’s been a wild success,...

By JACOB NELSON

Sometimes, medicine comes from a pill bottle. Other times, it grows right in your backyard, if only you knew how to access it.Blending modern chemistry with traditional wisdom, Blue Crow Botanicals puts locally grown herbal medicine right at people’s...

By TINKY WEISBLAT

A couple weeks ago, I attended a quick-pickling workshop at the Tyler Memorial Library in Charlemont. The library serves both Hawley and Charlemont. Librarian Kim Gabert arranges about one workshop a month.Somehow, I hadn’t managed to get to any of...

By MADISON SCHOFIELD

ASHFIELD — A local nonprofit is helping convert a Kentucky coal mine into a farm and teach Hawaiian farmers how to run prosperous, resilient businesses in the face of climate change.Regenerative Farms, founded by Ashfield resident Mary Johnson in...

By LISA GOODRICH

Sunset Farm in Amherst is a neighborhood farm that emphasizes the social aspects of farming in community. Owners Connie and Bill Gillen grow vegetables and flowers on 10 acres, within walking and biking distance of the University of Massachusetts...

By CHRIS LARABEE and ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

SUNDERLAND — From extreme weather related to climate change to stronger crop insurance protections and an increase on the cap on lending, area farmers paused their work briefly Tuesday to share their concerns with U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern when he swung...

By MADISON SCHOFIELD

NORTHFIELD — Fans of bingo, books or beer can find entertainment that’s up their alley at a fundraiser, held at The Brewery at Four Star Farms, to buy new furniture for the Children’s Room at Dickinson Memorial Library.The fundraiser will be held...

By CHRIS LARABEE

WHATELY — As demand for berries from growers, gardeners and resellers rises, a new structure at Nourse Farms on River Road is rising to meet the moment.The nearly 90-year-old farm’s extensive expansion project, which got underway in October 2023, is...

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

(This is the second story in a two-part series about Wheel-View Farm. Last week’s column focused on hundreds of years of history; this week, we look at more recent history and what’s currently happening.)Carolyn and John Wheeler live on a stunningly...

By JACOB NELSON

For over two decades, J & J Farms stood alone as the last dairy farm in Amherst. Many other small New England dairies shuttered as the economy shifted even more in favor of mega-dairies, but the Waskiewicz family held on, milking cows while also...

By LISA GOODRICH

After much anticipation, peaches are ripe and now available on farm stands and at farmers markets in the Valley. Ben Clark, fourth generation farmer and owner/operator of Clarkdale Fruit Farms, explains that western Massachusetts is generally the...

By JACOB NELSON

“This is a farm, but it feels like a wild place,” says Meredith Wecker about The Benson Place. “That’s why I fell in love with it.”The Benson Place is a diversified farm that Wecker runs with her husband, Andrew Kurowski, and is best known for their...

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

When I was a kid, the barn in Saint-Germain-de-Grantham, Québec where my uncle milked 40 cows was a magical place. I spent hours with adorable kittens and ”lesfilles,” the placid gals whose milk fueled our family farm. Yet one thing made my blood run...

By JACOB NELSON

Local wool for your wardrobe … and for your garden?That’s the idea behind a new project from Western Massachusetts Fibershed, an organization working to strengthen our local fiber economy, right alongside our local food economy.Peggy Hart is a core...

By LISA GOODRICH

Nick Martinelli, CEO of Marty’s Local, began his career with a stint at the Farm School in Athol, hoping to learn how he might participate in the local agricultural economy. While conducting market research in 2015, he recognized there was a lot of...

By TINKY WEISBLAT

My great-grandmother’s oak dining table has graced my kitchen ever since my parents built the house in the 1980s. Looking at it makes me happy. The table — actually, almost any table — signifies history, nourishment, family and community.The...

By TINKY WEISBLAT

Food connects Americans to each other and to our history. Those connections were highlighted in a recent book and a library talk. The book is “Smithsonian American Table: The Foods, People and Innovations That Feed Us,” (Harvest) by Lisa Kingsley in...

By JACOB NELSON

A knock on the door interrupts the conversation. Someone is here to trade cheese for Real Pickles’ fermented veggies.Kate Hunter, a marketing coordinator, assistant sales manager, and worker-owner at Real Pickles, gets up to confirm the terms. Out the...

By PAT JAMES

Community gardens grow on all kinds of land. Many gardens start as derelict lots, long abandoned by owners who sometimes reclaim the property after community gardeners reveal its beauty and productivity.Schools and parks are common sites for community...