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Keyword search: CULTURE

By CHRIS LARABEE

In 1994, a new movement began to grow out of the Pioneer Valley, Berkshires and Hudson Valley, as a group of organic farmers banded together to form a cooperative educational program for farm apprentices. That year marked the birth of the...

By VIRGINIA RAY

Though her original idea to start a small community orchard at Buckland-Shelburne Elementary School doesn’t appear to be in the cards, Julia Godfrey will instead donate and move most of her fruit trees and bushes to the Demonstration Permaculture...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Climate change’s impact on farming, as well as emerging areas like urban agriculture, soil health and pollinators, are a focus for the University of Massachusetts Extension Agriculture Program, which continues to help farmers adapt and...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — During a summer in which area farms dealt with significant rainfall and flooded fields, keeping agricultural drainage ditches cleared became essential to protecting crops by ensuring excess water could be removed.Often, though, farmers found...

By CHRIS LARABEE

CONWAY — As BlueWave Solar prepares to potentially expand its list of Franklin County projects by filing site plan review and special permit applications for an agrivoltaic solar array on Roaring Brook Road, the Planning Board approved a request to...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — The owners of a Shelburne farm have permanently protected 100 acres through the Agricultural Preservation Restriction program, ensuring that the fertile land won’t be turned into a large, upscale housing estate or put to other uses.“That’s...

By SAMUEL GELINAS

NORTHAMPTON — From flooding to fires, few people are as resilient as farmers.So it’s only fitting that Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture’s annual “Field Notes” event earlier this month included a host of local farmers sharing stories of...

By CHRIS LARABEE

Farming is already a tough field to make one’s living. Throw in three consecutive years of extreme weather and personal burnout and you’ve got a recipe for what is shaping up to be another difficult year for local farmers.With the weather whiplash of...

By CHRIS LARABEE

NORTHFIELD — Town residents got one of their first looks at a new proposed solar array on Pine Meadow Road while also getting an opportunity to talk to the developers on Wednesday during a Planning Board information session.BlueWave Solar is returning...

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

GREENFIELD — More than four years since its dissolution, the Agricultural Commission is back from the dead with three new members.The newly appointed commissioners — Elizabeth Nett, David Johnson and Denise Leonard — were sworn in at City Hall on...

By CHRIS LARABEE

SUNDERLAND — The change of the seasons, as farmers know, often brings a slew of other changes along with it, and at Kitchen Garden Farm, this spring brings the largest change of all.Soon, the farm will change hands for the first time since its...

By BELLA LEVAVI

SHELBURNE — Susan and Larry Flaccus, owners of Kenburn Orchards, have placed a conservation restriction on their land, ensuring no development will occur on the 152-acre property.“It really is the first significant farm on the Mohawk Trail coming up...

By BELLA LEVAVI

NORTHFIELD — Tree sap being boiled down into maple syrup filled the air with a sweet aroma on Friday as Department of Agricultural Resources Commissioner Ashley Randle celebrated the kickoff of Massachusetts Maple Month by ceremonially tapping a maple...

By DIANE BRONCACCIO

The groundhog predicted an early end to winter: did that also mean an earlier start to maple sugaring? Apparently so, according to several maple sugarers in the Pioneer Valley.“This is the earliest we’ve ever started,” remarked Chip Williams of the...

GREENFIELD – Western Mass Rights of Nature and the Nolumbeka Project are holding a pair of events at Greenfield Community College on Friday and Saturday that will teach attendees more about Native American culture.The two organizations first invite...

By LISA GOODRICH

Though more weeks of winter lie ahead, National Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) week — Feb. 19-25 — marks the symbolic start of the CSA cycle, when member sign-ups start rolling in and participating farmers begin planning for the coming growing...

MONTAGUE — The Cultural Council has awarded 28 grants totaling $16,146 to support local cultural programs as part of its annual funding distribution.According to a notice from Cultural Council Chair Kathleen Lynch, grants are awarded to projects that...