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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 TINKY WEISBLAT

My great-grandmother’s oak dining table has graced my kitchen ever since my parents built the house in the 1980s. Looking at it makes me happy. The table — actually, almost any table — signifies history, nourishment, family and community.The...

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 TINKY WEISBLAT

Food connects Americans to each other and to our history. Those connections were highlighted in a recent book and a library talk. The book is “Smithsonian American Table: The Foods, People and Innovations That Feed Us,” (Harvest) by Lisa Kingsley in...

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 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 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

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 EVELINE MACDOUGALL

Western Massachusetts is home to some of the world’s finest artisans and craft fairs. We can admire gorgeous objects made of wood, glass, wool, clay, flax, stone, wax, and other materials, and this happy circumstance allows us to shop locally....

By EMILEE KLEIN

GRANBY — Days after a large fire engulfed Red Fire Farm’s barn and farm store on Carver Street in Granby on Saturday afternoon, farm staff slowly recounted the equipment and inventory lost in the fire, as well as the memories attached to them.The fire...

By AALIANNA MARIETTA

GRANBY — A blaze engulfed Red Fire Farm’s barn and farm store on Carver Street on Saturday afternoon, leaving the west side of the barn “completely obliterated” and causing an estimated $1 million in damages, according to co-owner Ryan...

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

A busy homestead in Hawley is filled with multiple forms of creativity, including a weaving loom, a child’s easel, kitchen projects, and wood creations. Billings Brook Farm is home to colors, shapes, flavors and joy.Despite the fact that 6-month-old...

By CHRIS LARABEE

GREENFIELD — With “urgent” work needed on its historic barn, Just Roots farm invited local, state and federal stakeholders for a visit on Friday morning to take a look at the failing structure and to discuss potential funding streams.The farm has...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — Prohibiting PFAS from consumer products sold in Massachusetts remains an objective for Sen. Jo Comerford, who sees a recently advanced legislative bill to protect soil and farms from such contamination as an important first step to...

By EMILEE KLEIN

NORTHAMPTON — The Pioneer Valley Regional Agricultural Conference planned for Saturday will present three guest speakers on low-impact forestry, cheese making and small-scale maple syrup production for agricultural professionals looking to diversify...

By JACOB NELSON

“We do a little bit of everything,” says Andrea O’Brien of O’Brien Farm in Orange. “But mostly we milk cows.”Running a successful dairy farm requires commitment, perseverance and creativity. That’s especially true in recent times, as the costs of...

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 DOMENIC POLI

GILL — From the outside looking in, not much has changed at Sunrise Valley Farm recently. But, for the past month or so, owners Brian and Keri Peila have had one major addition to their to-do list.With help from their three children, the couple has...