Right Up Our Valley

This year has been a climate horror for Western Mass farmers. Luckily, there is a deep respect and love for our farms here.

Those who know me know I have a weed problem: I like to grow it, but don't partake that much. In the three years I've tended a garden,...

A couple of days ago, after our first real frost, I cut down the Brussels sprout plants. They were the final crop standing in the garden,...

Maybe you -- like me -- have found yourself in the grocery store staring perplexed into a display of items considering back and forth:...

Karl Prahl of Underline Farm is a Local Hero (as recognized by the Western Mass. agricultural organization CISA) and one of ours as well....

You could go ask Alice... Or a better choice might be to consult someone who really knows. For those unfamiliar with mushroom foraging...

When we moved into our house four years ago, one of the first things I wanted was a vegetable garden. If you had seen the yard back then,...

In honor of Earth Day, it’s time for another installment of Earth-friendly household item reviews. As you know, we’re seriously doing...

Once Christmas turns to New Year’s Eve, it’s time to remove all of the ornaments, unwind the lights and take the tree down. When we lived...

Shishitos are a small mild pepper with an amazing taste when lightly blistered in a pan with oil, salt, pepper and a spritz of lemon.

It all started as a Covid-19 shutdown project. We wanted to tackle one big project for the house while we were cooped up in it.

The real discovery is when you are driving along some back road and, like an oasis, there's this little stand of vegetables.

In my mind, I could just see the sleeping dragon wrapped around our fire.

As I go into my third season of growing, I decided to document my successes and failures so far.

Sue has so many ideas, I sort of sit back, hear them out and wait until the dust settles on the best one.

One of the few upsides to all this virus/social distancing nonsense is time: For Sue and I, it means more time for excursions together.

Since we’re all spending more time at home, it’s a perfect opportunity to catch up on our search for environmentally responsible products.

Even before coffee or breakfast, I head down the basement steps and out the door with the suet feeder and a plastic cup full of bird seed.

Four or five months of cold and wet and gray does eat at the soul. With that comes the beginning thoughts of what to plant in the garden.

This time of year is a real opportunity to reduce waste and eliminate some plastic with reusable wraps, and by creatively sourcing paper.