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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 CHRIS LARABEE

BOSTON — While Kitchen Garden Farm’s Pink Jazz tomato was honored with third place in the heaviest category at the 39th Annual Tomato Contest in Boston earlier this month, don’t expect to find this form of tomato among the farm’s produce.Weighing in...

By CHRIS LARABEE

Corn one, come all!The circus is coming to Sunderland this fall, as Mike’s Maze turns itself into a corn-ival for the 2024 season, with its “Join the Circus” theme. With stars and the theme’s phrase etched into the corn field, the famous labyrinth is...

By CHRIS LARABEE and ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

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

By MADISON SCHOFIELD

NORTHFIELD — Fans of bingo, books or beer can find entertainment that’s up their alley at a fundraiser, held at The Brewery at Four Star Farms, to buy new furniture for the Children’s Room at Dickinson Memorial Library.The fundraiser will be held...

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 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 EVELINE MACDOUGALL

(This is the second story in a two-part series about Wheel-View Farm. Last week’s column focused on hundreds of years of history; this week, we look at more recent history and what’s currently happening.)Carolyn and John Wheeler live on a stunningly...

By ADA DENENFELD KELLY

A total of $141,600 in grant funding is coming to two Franklin County organizations as part of more than $1 million awarded statewide by the Healey-Driscoll administration to protect soil health.The Franklin Conservation District received $75,000 and...

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

MONTAGUE — Falls Farm must end all activities within the wetlands resource area and buffer zone on its property, following a cease and desist order issued by the Montague Conservation Commission on Tuesday.Additionally, following in the footsteps of...

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part series about the history and modern-day workings of Wheel-View Farm in Shelburne.Lifelong Shelburne resident Carolyn Wheeler is of the fourth generation to live and actively farm on familial land, and...

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

SUNDERLAND — The state Department of Environmental Protection will begin overseeing the erosion and wetlands issues at Falls Farm following a unanimous vote of the Sunderland Conservation Commission on Thursday. Diane McClellan, representing Falls...

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 ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

MONTAGUE — The Conservation Commission has scheduled a special meeting for Tuesday, July 23, at 6:30 p.m. in which it could potentially place an enforcement order on Falls Farm in the wake of wetlands violations and erosion that stemmed from tree...

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 CHRIS LARABEE

After a frantic emergency response to save animals and equipment on July 10, 2023, David Fisher and Maggie Toran assessed their farm field as memories of Hurricane Irene came flooding back.At their horse-powered, community-supported agriculture (CSA)...

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 ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

GREENFIELD — Health Director Michael Theroux joined the city’s newly revived Agricultural Commission at its meeting this week to outline the Health Department’s role in enforcing and educating the public on the city and state’s agricultural...

By LEAH VERESS

Alice Colman recalls the day a routine fennel harvest turned into a wake-up call. As she stood in her field, carefully examining a plant’s feathery leaves, she felt herself growing increasingly frustrated with the crop’s appearance. When she kneeled...

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

SUNDERLAND — Following wetlands violations and erosion that stemmed from tree clearing on 3 acres of land, Falls Farm owner Dr. James Arcoleo is continuing to discuss a restoration and mitigation plan with the Conservation Commission.Tuesday’s meeting...