In Pittsfield on a September day, you might have heard Yo-yo Ma and Emmanuel Ax give a pop-up concert, as volunteers prepared orders of new potatoes, ginger and honey. Across the Berkshires, farmers markets are adapting to a new world.
Read articleExploring identity, gardening and the dreams we hold dear
A question on diversity in gardening opens up a deeper discussion on the relationship between the environment and communities in the Berkshires.
Read articleThe Prairie Whale adapts in a Covid world
At the Prairie Whale in Great Barrington, strings of lights are gleaming above the tables on the lawn. Most of the chairs are full on a Friday night, and voices carry over the grass. The diners and the waiters are all wearing masks.
Read articleRound House Bakery closes at Hubbard Hall and regroups in the pandemic
Scott and Lisa Carrino have built a local community around the Round House Bakery Café, and the pandemic has closed their restaurant at Hubbard Hall. They will keep their bakery running at Pompanuck Farm in White Creek.
Read articleRoss Gay’s ‘Unabashed Gratitude’ surges with life
On a spring night in Bloomington, Indiana, Ross Gay is planting young lettuces. Winter has hung on so long, a warm evening feels new — to stand barefoot in a troweled furrow with the air smelling of earth and stems, and peels in the compost pile.
Read articleFarmers Markets ripen across the Berkshires in summer
A table at the front holds hand-turned bowls. I once saw that dark rippling on creamy wood in an old farmhouse near here, and the man who lived there told me it was spalted maple, and fungi cause that pattern, but they often leave the wood too brittle to work, so […]
Read articleCaretaker Farm grows with the strength of community
“So many people have told me it’s their favorite part of living here, the most beautiful place on earth for them,” says Don Zasada, who farms Caretaker Farm in Williamstown with his wife, Bridget.
Read articleIoka Valley Farm serves maple syrup in mud time
The steam off the boilers smells richly sweet. The whole room is filled with it — open the door and step in, and you’re dipped whole into damp, warm air and the scent of maple sap boiling down.
Read articleFarming takes center stage at Hubbard Hall
“The sky getting darker, and you still working to the last sunlight.” Daniel Salzer conjures a summer night in a barn after a long day, as though he is taking in the smells of warm wood and cows, diesel from the tractor and a sweetness from second-cut hay.
Read articleWhy we carve jack-o-lanterns
We walk across grass as flat as straw after the frost. The air is damp enough for jean jackets, and it smells of leaves, wood smoke, water and damp hay … and we are peering with care at the pumpkins.
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