Farmer Spotlight

When Joe Boisvert was ten years old, he and his older brother John began working on their parents’ farm. They tapped trees, boiled the sap, and learned how to produce maple syrup. Later on, Joe would create the North Hadley Sugar Shack which has now been in operation for over twenty years!  Joe and his wife […]

To call someone “crunchy” or a “crunchy granola” type of person is to say that he or she doesn’t accept the mainstream way of doing things; they aspire to live a more holistic, natural life; and they tend to be environmentally and socially conscious. Nat and Aaron of GrandyOats are a good example of crunchy

While the American Dream can sometimes be a fuzzy concept, especially given the hardship that Jorge Sosa and Dora Saravia have endured, it’s hard to deny that their path fulfills it.  Jorge, who had moved from Mexico City in 1992, saved up enough through odd jobs to open a small grocery store in Springfield in 2001.

Lilly began her farming journey as a UMass student walking by the Franklin Dining Commons one day. At the time, work was underway to start creating what would become the Franklin Permaculture Garden. As she walked by one day, she became curious as to what was to become of the land that had previously been

John Kokoski of Mapleline Farm is our Farmer of the Week. John, who is a UMass alumnus, and his team at Mapleline provide their local milk wholesale to large institutions like UMass Dining but also to small markets and cafes around the Pioneer Valley.  Mapleline has been a part of the Hadley community for over a

The UMass Dining Sustainability team poses for a photo with Rob Litch at Misty Knoll Farm.  This week we are featuring Misty Knoll Farm, a poultry farm in New Haven, VT, for our first Farmer of the Week for the Fall 2015 semester! Misty Knoll has been a family-owned business and an integral part of

This week, we are featuring a farm that you might have heard of before. You can find Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs in grocery stores all across New England.  That fact might make you pause; aren’t we supposed to be supporting small, family farms instead of commercial, large-scale growers?  Actually, that’s exactly what we’re doing. Pete and

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, it’s time to celebrate our local turkey supplier, Diemand Farm!  Located in Wendell, MA (15 miles north of Amherst), Diemand Farm is run by siblings Annie, Faith, and Peter. Since 1936 when the farm was founded, the Diemand family has been providing food for their local community.  Until recently, Diemand Farm

Date: 11/11/2014  Pine Hill Orchards, located 30 minutes north of Amherst in Colrain, MA, is a 75 acre orchard run by David and Matt Shearer.  Of course, apples make up a big component of their farm. During the fall, you can visit their orchard to pick your own apples and ride on their tractor. For wholesale

Anna Hankins is a second year student at UMass Amherst paving her own path through education by combining both classroom learning and organizing work. Anna enjoys being agitated about food injustices, spending hours in meetings trying to change them, and eating copious amounts of chocolate in her spare time.   An Earth Day baby, Anna has

Edwin Matuszko, Linda Kingsley, and their son, Josef, are third and fourth generation farmers of Twin Oaks Farm in Hadley, MA.  Since 1979, when Ed and Linda took over the farm, Twin Oaks has grown an increasingly diverse selection of vegetables ranging from cabbage to ornamental pumpkins. Linda says, “We used to have only two crops.

Pete and Tara Roy are the proud owners of PT Farm in North Haverhill, New Hampshire. Operating a beef and hog farm is not easy work, but it’s not their only job. They also have five children: Calvin, Madeleine, Dory, Gabriel, and Rose. Tara admits that this can lead to having a “crazy lifestyle”.  Despite their

In 1950, Teddy C. Smiarowski founded Smiarowski Farm on 70 acres of fertile, sandy loam. Since then, the farm has changed in a number of ways.  First, John Smiarowski and his three brothers Bernie, Ron, and Jim, have since taken over the operations of the farm from their father. Each brother plays a different role in

Date: 10/6/2014  This week’s Farmer is UMass’s very own Amanda Brown. Amanda helps UMass students make their passion for growing food for their peers a reality through the UMass Student Farming Enterprise.   The Student Farm is a unique year-long course that provides students with hands-on experience running an organic farm. The course started in 2007

Founded in 2000, Warm Colors Apiary is an 80 acre farm located in South Deerfield, MA, owned and operated by the loving couple Dan and Bonita Conlon. Their farm is just 11 miles from the center of campus.  Using the wealth of the honeybees and non-chemical methods, Warm Colors Apiary produces and sells honey and beeswax