Keyword search: Agriculture
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...
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...
By CHRIS LARABEE
With a full body of work compiled over 2023’s farming and harvest seasons, Local Access to Valley Arts (The LAVA Center) is launching a touring exhibit for “indiVISIBLE: Seeing and Celebrating Indispensable Agricultural Workers” this week at...
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...
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