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By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part series about the Greenfield Farmers Market, which is in its 50th year.On Saturday mornings — spring, summer and fall — the Greenfield Farmers Market in the town’s center bustles with open-air vendors,...

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

Steve McConley credits his wife, Doreen, for his interest in growing plants. Doreen brought solid gardening skills to their union, and Steve appreciates her encouragement. The McConleys have a garden at their Bernardston home, and now Steve shares...

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

This week’s feature is my 100th Home & Garden column for the Recorder, and I’m pleased to celebrate by sharing the plans of two local women who are organizing a remarkable event for anyone interested in learning about herbal remedies and natural...

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

The Van Natta family home on Parmenter Road was the second house built in Bernardston, and walking through their 1747 residence imparts a feeling of time travel, given centuries-old aspects as well as evidence of dozens of changes over many decades....

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

The benefits of gardening are widely known, but there’s one aspect readers may not have considered: gardening can offer a path to sobriety, especially when undertaken with friends. Some members of the Greenfield-based Recover Project are spending time...

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

We celebrate today’s Spring Equinox with Colrain resident Jocelyn Demuth, who designs curricula to encourage Massachusetts children to improve environmental health.Through her “Five hundred Yard Field Trip” website, Demuth provides teachers with free...

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

I’ve received many blessings from my mother’s native Canada, as well as from the U.S., my father’s place of origin. It would be impossible to tally the resources I’ve enjoyed: cultural, linguistic, geographical, educational, economic, medical, and...

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 EVELINE MACDOUGALL

Maple sap processing season is short, yet Northfield’s Milt Severance thinks about syrup all year. His sweet vocation will be celebrated this Friday, March 1, when his sugarhouse is singled out to host the Ceremonial Tapping that kicks off Maple...

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

Lynn Golan’s Conway home and her Greenfield work space are both filled with materials and tools related to herbalism, yet her early life gave no hints that this would become her chosen path. While growing up near New York City, Golan did not grow a...

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 EVELINE MACDOUGALL

Co-owners Kaihla Laurent, 25, and Jaydon Diamond, 27, chose the image of a bird for their Woodnote Coffee Company logo; a woodnote is a natural musical sound or song, like that of a wild bird. The allusion seems fitting, as the young company recently...

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

Contra dance enthusiasts and Montague May Day fans may recognize today’s guest star as Jeanne Weintraub, while people who met the Montague resident following her marriage to Chris Mason — whose sustainability and alternative energy work merits a...

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

On a spring day nearly 20 years ago, Jon and Jane Severance drove along River Road, which connects Sunderland with the Cheapside area near the Greenfield-Deerfield line. They passed a 1945 Model D John Deere tractor with a sign: “It runs.” Jon...

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

Claire Hilsinger moved to western Massachusetts in August, but is already making positive impacts here. A professional botanist who delineates wetlands and does rare plant surveys, Hilsinger helps advise on projects like bridge replacements and...

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

If you relish culinary challenges, you might attempt to provide scrumptious treats for everyone in your social circle, even if some people are dairy-free, others gluten-free (GF), and still others nut-free. And of course, baking for vegans adds a...

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

Walking through the woods in late autumn with the Coates brothers is an eye-opening experience. “Look here,” said Brandin Coates, 42, crouching to brush leaves aside. “A doe was here within the last day or so.” When asked how he detected footprints...

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

Living beings create messes; humans, however, take unenviable first place. Our craving for acquisition — and resulting gobs of packaging — means that our species has the heaviest planetary footprint. The good news is that some necessary human...

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

Mike Hannigan’s grandmother lived to be over 100, and her grandson recalls many stories about her farming experiences. “Farming is in my blood,” said Hannigan, whose family has longtime ties to Hadley. Hannigan often thought about that legacy while...

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

Judy Wagner’s penchant for planting trees in her beloved town of Northfield has roots in something she witnessed at age five while on a family hike in her native Georgia.“We came upon a grove of little plum trees, all in blossom, and my dad decided to...