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By JACOB NELSON

“When we realized this sheep was about to give birth, the kids from Mary Walsh Elementary School in Springfield were still yelling and racing around the farm in the middle of a scavenger hunt,” recalls Sydney Treuer, assistant director at Red Gate...

By JACOB NELSON

‘This morning I was walking through the orchard grabbing handfuls of ripe blueberries and popping them in my mouth,” says Jim Gilman, owner of Kelso Homestead Blueberries in Chester. “There’s no better way to enjoy their full flavor.”When berry season...

By JACOB NELSON

Last week western Massachusetts endured both hellish heat and high water, as many rivers flooded banks following days of hot, muggy air and rainfall that felt almost tropical. As the climate changes, we can expect the intensity and variability of...

By JACOB NELSON

In places where fresh food is expensive or hard to get to, mobile farmers markets are one way to break down barriers. For people without reliable transportation, mobile markets bring food to them instead. Plus, many in Massachusetts accept SNAP...

By JACOB NELSON

Few things are as heartwarming and delicious as a good slice of homemade pie.“Pie holds a lot of memories for folks,” says Maura Glennon, owner of Florence Pie Bar, “many of them grounded in family, friends, and a feeling of life being a little...

By JACOB NELSON

This Wednesday will be the fourth time local farmers, artisans and food trucks gather in Buttery Brook Park from 2 to 6 p.m. for a family-friendly event that will continue weekly through mid-October. While an earlier iteration faded after 2018, this...

By JACOB NELSON

‘Wouldn’t it be amazing if we employed more people making clothes and textiles right here in western Massachusetts?” asks Lisa Fortin, founder of Bloom Woolen Yarns in Ashfield. “Working on the land with animals, designing things in fiber mills –...

By JACOB NELSON

‘It grew out of walking in the woods and being hungry for knowledge – and also good things to eat.”That’s how Paul Lagreze describes the birth of his business, New England Wild Edibles. Purveyors of wild plants and fungi from the fields and forests of...

By JACOB NELSON

This week at Brookfield Farm, a community supported agriculture (CSA) farm in Amherst, spring crops continue to take root in freshly tilled fields, gratefully soaking up last week’s rain. Just as they grow — slowly at first, then exploding with life...

By JACOB NELSON

Vibrant yellow and purple pansies coloring local farm stands, their faces turned upward to greet the sun, are sure signs of warmth returning to New England.“I already delivered some last week to Upinngil Farm in Gill and Atlas Farm Store in South...

By JACOB NELSON

Spring is springing up at Everyday Farm in Gill. Actually, it’s bouncing all over the place.“We’ve had about a hundred lambs born so far this year,” says farmer Hannah Sol. Once all their mother ewes give birth, the number of bleating babies will more...

By JACOB NELSON

Toni Hall is a farmer hoping to turn some heads. A diminutive plant known as spilanthes, with edible flowers called buzz buttons, is helping get people’s attention.“When I give out samples at the farmers market, people make these crazy sounds and...

By JACOB NELSON

The Parsons family of Mayval Farm have stewarded their land in Westhampton for a long time.“It was actually a grant from the king to Noah Parsons III,” says Margie Parsons. That would be King George III of England, back in 1778.Currently Mayval Farm...

By JACOB NELSON

As day breaks each morning, Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton is already a hive of activity. Doctors and nurses on overnight shifts trade places with daytime colleagues, procedures are prepped, and support staff arrive. They’re all there to...

By JACOB NELSON

Talk to most farmers raising animals on pasture, and they’ll tell you the same thing – from a farming perspective, the animals are secondary.“Our mantra is creating good food from grass,” says Kyle Bostrom of Bostrom Farm in Greenfield. “Basically, we...

By JACOB NELSON

‘When people think about farming, a lot of specific imagery may come to mind,” says Miana Hoyt Dawson of Pause and Pivot Farm in Williamsburg. “We’re probably the opposite of that.”For one, soil and sunlight have nothing to do with it, as their main...

By JACOB NELSON

‘I’m a junkie for rutabagas,” admits Cathleen O’Keefe. “I love their tanginess and making fries with them. And winter greens. Knowing what goes into growing them in New England in the winter – they’re amazing!”O’Keefe has owned and managed the Winter...

By JACOB NELSON

WORTHINGTON — “Agriculture is going to have to look different,” says Lincoln Fishman of Sawyer Farm in Worthington, given the climate crisis. “And I’m just not interested in farming the old way.”Well-read and well-spoken, Fishman has a keen ability to...