Denise Barstow Manz of Barstow’s Longview Farm, Diary Store, and Bakery in Hadley joins Phil, Monte, and Kaliis to talk about their farm and the significance of this moment for local farms around the region.

Barstow’s has your last minute holiday gift and goodie needs covered! See their bakery menu, store items, and more here.

Lenita Bober of Blossoming Acres Farm in Southwick talks with Jacob, Kaliis, and Monte about 

• Their farm (80 acres in Southwick) and farm stand (produce, local food, bakery, gifts and more!)
• Their market style CSA – essentially a discounted, prepaid charge card to use on anything they produce themselves. Join for 2024 now for early bird pricing! 
• Challenges this year, and what helped get them through

This weekend SANTA is coming to Blossoming Acres’ farm stand at 249 College Highway in Southwick, December 16th from 11-2 & 17th from 12-3 (see post here). The event is free, with donations of hygiene products to the Southwick food pantry strongly encouraged.

Dick Conner of Red Barn Honey Company joins Phil and Kaliis to talk about:

• What do bees do in the winter?
• Collaborating with local farms – bees do some pollinating, other farms sell Red Barn’s honey.
• Plus: becoming honey sommeliers! They taste different kinds of honey – a light and a dark.

See, where are you can find Red Barn Honey Company’s, honey, beeswax, candles, and other products at their website. (Hint: the Northampton Winter Farmers’ Market is the best place to start!)

Missy Leab from Ioka Valley Farm in Hancock joins Monte, Kaliis, and Jacob to talk about: 

• The magic that awaits families who visit to cut their own Christmas trees.
• How they evolved from a dairy farm in the 90s to a year-round destination for fun on the farm, from maple sugaring and pancake breakfasts to pick-your-own pumpkins. 
• Some of your burning questions about Christmas trees: different kinds, how they grow, and how to keep them fresh and happy in your home (we do some myth-busting too )

Ioka Valley Farm is open for cut-your-own trees weekends 9:30 – 4:30 until Christmas. Their gift shop is also open Fridays 12:00 – 4:00 with pre-cut trees available. This weekend, December 2nd & 3rd they’ll host a pancake breakfast from 8 – 12 with a special visitor: Santa!

Stan and Joe McCoy of Sage Meadow Farm come talk to Phil, Kaliis and Monte about: 

• Life changing goat milk lotion (40% goats milk…customers have actually said “this changed my life”)
• Receiving and giving back as they chart the future of their business, collaborating with the LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce and others.
• Their close collaboration with Thomas Farm & Dairy in Sunderland – from sourcing milk to borrowing baby goats for…

BABY GOAT YOGA! Back next spring. 

You can find Sage Meadow Farm‘s soaps, lotions, and more at the Easthampton Winter Farmers’ Market, River Valley Coop, Big Y stores, and other locations across the region (click here to see more).

Swaz Potato Farms is the BIGGEST potato farm in the state, growing on over 2,000 acres and distributing potatoes grown by lots of other farms too. Many of their spuds end up on menus at our local restaurants, like Jake’s Restaurant and Local Burger.

In this Local Hero Spotlight, Diane Szawlowski Mullins joins Phil, Monte, and Kaliis to talk about how their business has grown over the years, bumps along the way, and some fun trivia about their preeminent potatoes.

Kara Peters, owner of Ahlbin’s Homemade Fire Cider, tells Phil, Monte, and Kaliis all about what this magical mixture is, and the delicious and healing ways you can use it. They talk about:

• Sourcing a bunch of ingredients locally, including cider vinegar from Apex Orchards and ginger and turmeric from Old Friends Farm
• Kara’s perseverance starting her own food business
• Fire cider in salad dressing, marinades, Bloody Marys…and ice cream? Yup! So many ways to use it in the kitchen!

Taste test verdict from Monte: “Spicy…with a hint of sweetness” See you can find Ahlbin’s Homemade Fire Cider at ahlbins.com/find-us.

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Monte, Kaliis and Jacob visit Riverland Farm in Sunderland to talk with owner Emily Landeck about: 

• What it means to be a women-run farm. 
• SWEET POTATOES You can eat their leaves too! And some are purple?
• BRUSSELS SPROUTS You can eat THEIR leaves too! And they ALSO come in purple? (Just like light sabers, Monte points out) 
• And a lot more.

Riverland Farm’s winter CSA gives fresh veggies every other week today through January. Learn more and sign up today at riverlandfarm.com/winter-csa-shares.

Kaliis, Monte, and Phil get a crash course in the wacky world of mushrooms from Julia Coffey, owner of Mycoterra Farm in South Deerfield. Mushrooms are everywhere (As Kaliis says, “you don’t have to go to space to find aliens! They are both under the sea and under your dirt.”) and the edible ones are damn tasty!

ALSO, this Thursday 10/26 Mycoterra Farm is offering a behind the scenes farm tour, proceeds to benefit CISA’s Growing Resilience Campaign. Donate above $25 and you’ll take home your own home mushroom growing kit! Learn more and sign up here.

Photo by New England Public Media

Kaliis, Monte, and Phil learn about the delicious world of food at Smith College from Andy Cox, Executive Director of Auxiliary Services, and German  Alvarado, the Culinary Director. At Smith: 

• Food is a gateway to comfort, community, learning about nutrition and more
• They’ve made many investments to source over 30% from Local and regional farms and businesses… and that number is growing!
• The best carrot cake leaves no raisins in sight (they brought us some with local carrots from Outlook Farm in Westhampton and flour from Ground Up Grain in Holyoke….OOOO it was good!)

Hungry to see for yourself? Two of their cafés are open to the public!

This week on the #localherospotlight, Holyoke Farmers’ Market market manager Alexis Diaz De Jesus as well as Benito and Damaris Torres of La Finca Arecibena at Torres Family Farm talk about the entrepreneurial spirit of the market and the people behind it, who are bringing good food, good fun, and food access to their multilingual community. 

Bonus content!

Click here to see Benito’s story about this birth of his farm from last year’s Field Notes show – all in Spanish!

We’re now accepting pitches for the next Field Notes show here.

Mike and Kathy Austin dropped by the studio to tell Monte, Kaliis, and Phil what’s going on this fall at Austin Brothers Valley Farm in Belchertown, including:

• Pick-your-own pumpkins, hay rides, and a corn maze on the weekends this October 
• Where to find their beef:
  • Their farm store at 270 West St. in Belchertown
  • Sutter Meats in Northampton
  • McCarthy’s Pub in Belchertown
  • Fern Valley Farms in Wilbraham
  • …and beyond!
• The weather, raising a family on a farm, and …strategies for successfully begging for a pony? Yup