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By LISA GOODRICH

Upon walking in the door at Puza’s Pure Food Market in Southampton, a commitment to fresh, local produce is on display. Visually, produce appears to fill a substantial portion of the store. As the harvest season eases toward the holidays, bins and...

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 LISA GOODRICH

As National Farm to School Month unfolds during October, the Connecticut River Valley puts the idea in action. Nationally observed since 2010, the month highlights the collaboration between farms and local schools.Simply feeding children is the root...

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 ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL and CHRIS LARABEE

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

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 JACOB NELSON

For people near Goshen, Oliver’s Farm Stand is bringing more local food within close reach. As they do, they’re bringing their neighbors closer together too.Farm stands come in many shapes and sizes. Since 2017, Oliver’s has grown into a nearly...

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 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

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 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 JACOB NELSON

“In a different life, I think I would have been an artist from the beginning,” says Adrienne Bashista, owner of Passalongs Farm and Florist. “I wasn’t forbidden from a career in art, it just didn’t occur to me. But now in my 50s, I’ve realized what I...

By JACOB NELSON

Jackie Pliska, owner of Wanczyk Produce in Hadley, has dreams of keeping the farm stand business open year-round instead of seven months each year. But first, she has to finish college.Pliska started working at the family business when she was 11. She...

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 LISA GOODRICH

Samaita (Sam) Newell is a first-generation immigrant from India. She met Jared Newell as a student in the five-college area. Following graduation and getting married, the young couple dreamed of buying a farm with a store.Without collateral, their...

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 JACOB NELSON

‘When I was a kid in Puerto Rico, I always liked going to the roadside markets and farm stands,” says Alexis Diaz DeJesus. “People had their fruit and vegetables all displayed, and you could negotiate prices or even trade for things. Then there were...

By EMILEE KLEIN

NORTHAMPTON — The Pioneer Valley Regional Agricultural Conference this Saturday presents three guest speakers on low-impact forestry, cheese making and maple forestry production for agricultural professionals looking to diversify their production.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...

By JACOB NELSON

‘The best carrots you’ll ever eat are picked in January or February,” says Erik Debbink, owner of Lombrico Farm in Whately. In the dead of winter, their sweetness shines through.Lombrico Farms is one of a growing number of local farms working hard to...