Published: 4/29/2020 2:00:34 PM
Spring has arrived and was visible in near-full force to residents of Northampton and Florence out for some exercise on Wednesday morning. Yellow daffodils have been the heralds of color, but now the pinks and fluffy whites of blooming magnolia and ornamental fruit trees abound — despite what has seemed like a cool five weeks since the official end of winter.
Workers with Sawmill Herb Farm were weeding and composting around scores of young elderberry bushes growing in a dozen rows off Meadow Street in Florence. A handful of gardeners could be spotted working in the nearby Grow Food Northampton Organic Community Garden on Meadow Street, as well as at the older Northampton Community Gardens on Burts Pit Road — once home to the kitchen garden area of the former Northampton State Hospital. However, in a testament to the extra precautions being taken during the COVID-19 pandemic, signs posted at the entrances of the latter site note that the gardens are currently only open for registered users — and not for the joggers, sightseers and other visitors who are usually welcome.