Search Results

Keyword search: Valley Bounty

By LISA GOODRICH

The Smiarowski family name has been a fixture in Valley farming since around 1923 when Alexander Smiarowski came from Poland, and purchased farmland in Montague for a dairy, along with cucumbers, asparagus and corn.

By LISA GOODRICH

When farming is in the family, the land calls no matter where else life takes you. Aaron Moody, owner-operator of Moody Family Farm, was born in Greenfield, and from the beginning, he knew that he loved working with animals. Three generations of Moody’s family farmed, and young Moody occasionally worked at his uncle’s dairy farm while growing up.

By JACOB NELSON

‘It’s usually around April 20 when I plant things in the field that can handle light frost,” says farmer Dan Greene of Good Bunch Farm. “Then there’s about a longer wait until the next big planting date in late May. By then the threat of frost is gone and you can finally plant all the warm-loving crops. After that, you really don’t have any time except for weeding and harvesting.”

By LISA GOODRICH

The spring planting season is upon us, and home gardeners are out in full force on weekends, visiting farm stands and garden centers hunting for just the right elements for their gardens and outdoor spaces. The season celebrates the return of the sun and warmer overnight temperatures, with many sun-loving species taking center stage on magazine covers, websites, and in newsletters.

By JACOB NELSON

In many ways, farming can seem like a romantic way of life. “Being outside, providing for yourself, providing for your community – and the health changes I saw in myself, eating fresh food from the land – it all resonated so deeply,” says Cara Zueger, who runs Free Living Farm in Petersham with her husband Michael.

By LISA GOODRICH

Named for sunny citrus fruit grown far from the valley, Lemon Bakery in Amherst mixes the sweet with the tart. Four years ago, in the uncertainty of the pandemic, owner Rori Hanson built a bakery business with a model of curbside pickup and delivery rather than a storefront. Hanson’s menu follows the seasons by sourcing from local farms. Today, Lemon Bakery continues to sell through online pre-ordering and curbside pickup or delivery; there is no storefront cafe.

By JACOB NELSON

Spring is here, and with it are signs of new life on farms around the Valley. Leaves are beginning to bud on fruit trees, farmers are preparing soil for the coming growing season, and at Little Brook Farm in Sunderland, day-old baby lambs are bounding around the lambing barn.

By LISA GOODRICH

“When people think of farms, they tend to think of the summer, abundance, corn fields, and flowers. What people don’t realize is that farms function year-round, and there are many business models that allow farmers to grow products year-round or have products year-round to sell,” says Hannah Logan, Market Manager of the Greenfield Winter Farmers’ Market.

By JACOB NELSON

Plenty of young kids tap a few maple trees, inspired by the sweet promise of maple syrup. Few become enamored with it to the point of kickstarting a family business. Cooper Deane, who helps run Bear Hill Sugar Farm, is one of them.

By LISA GOODRICH

Richardson’s Candy Kitchen in Deerfield celebrated its 70th anniversary last year. The Woodward family has operated the business since 1983, when they took over where the Richardsons left off. Owner Kathie Williams (née Woodward), grew up in the business, which has always had strong ties with the local farming community.

By JACOB NELSON

Golden, rich, and delicious, “ghee is basically clarified butter,” explains April Poirier. “But it’s so much more than that.”Poirier is the new owner of Full Moon Ghee, an Ashfield-based business she recently bought from founder Hannah Jacobson-Hardy....

By JACOB NELSON

The Christmas season, for people who celebrate, tends to be full of traditions. Maybe it’s watching the same corny holiday movies every year. Maybe it’s making Grandma’s special cookies, a yellowing index card with her faded cursive handwriting...

By JACOB NELSON

In South Deerfield, the North Main Street bridge over the railroad tracks has been closed for repairs since May. “I was joking that we’re probably the only ones on this street happy about the detour,” laughs Kelly Kicza.That’s because cars have been...

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 LISA GOODRICH

School is back in session, and the emblematic apple is in season at local orchards. Courtney Basil, co-owner of Apex Orchards in Shelburne Falls, reports “beautiful, bountiful peach and apple crops this season.”Apex planted several new varieties 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 JACOB NELSON

It’s rare to try an entirely new food as an adult. Rarer still to realize it was growing under your nose the whole time.Before he started farming them in Leyden, Tom Ashley had never eaten a fig outside of a Fig Newton. Even the idea of fig trees...

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

The Upper Bend Cafe and Bruncheonette in Turners Falls aims to be reliably amazing. That means serving familiar breakfast and lunch favorites while unleashing their creativity, squeezing every drop of goodness from farm-fresh local food.“Using as many...

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 JACOB NELSON

“Compost is not soil, but it makes your soil better,” says Mike Mahar, owner of Bear Path Compost in Whately. “It adds life to it. If you’re going to take something out of the soil by harvesting, you should put something back in, and compost is...