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.

Kakhtiranova came to the U.S. in 2003 from central Russia. Despite being married and having children in this country, immigration protections were removed under the last president, forcing Kakhtiranova to seek sanctuary in order to remain with her family. The congregation became her second family, providing sanctuary for almost three years.

As Kakhtiranova considered work options she could do in her situation, a friend suggested she consider selling her pierogi. Elders in the congregation helped Kakhtiranova set up a system of making pierogi and getting them out into the community, initially at River Valley Co-op and Cornucopia Natural Wellness Market. The business was born, and P’Frogi was named by her son, whose malapropism became the family food business brand.

Irida Kakhtiranova, owner of P’Frogi, makes Pierogi’s that she sells in various stores and farmers market in the valley.

Kakhtiranova says, “I grew up with pierogi, which comes from Polish origin. Instead of making farmer’s cheese or sauerkraut filling, the Russian people filled them with fruit, like cherries, plums, or prunes. I grew up watching that. I never really made it on my own until I came to the states and had my own kids. Then I learned my mother’s techniques for making them by watching her on Skype.”

Raised Muslim, if Kakhtiranova had remained at home, arranged marriage was part of her family culture. She notes, “when you get married, one of the tests that you face by your mother-in-law is how thin you can roll out your dough and cut noodles.” Although Kakhtiranova avoided an arranged marriage by coming to the U.S., she brought the art of rolling out fine dough with her. It took a couple of years to perfect thin dough on a professional scale. Most commercially available pierogi has thicker dough than P’Frogi products. She adds, “My clientele love that my dough is very thin, so you can experience the flavor of the filling.”

P’Frogi, pierogi sold in various stores and farmers market in the valley.

Local, farm-fresh produce helps P’Frogi products stand apart. “For me, it has always been important to go to the farm to buy potatoes. In Russia, we went to farms to buy our vegetables. When I came to the States, grocery store food didn’t taste as good to me,” says Kakhtiranova.

She continues, “Once I moved to this area, I saw that there are many opportunities to get potatoes and cabbage. While I lived in the church, there were volunteers who came from Deerfield. They brought me potatoes and cabbage from Teddy Smiarowski Farm on their way home. As I found out what they had at the farms, I got more produce. I even had a farm share with Mountain View Farm at one time,” says Kakhtiranova.

The seasons inspire the flavors available throughout the year. One specialty flavor, farmer’s cheese and apple pie filling made with Clarkdale Fruit Farms apples, is available at Clarkdale Fruit Farm. While the co-op carries an array of flavors in their freezer case throughout the year, some additional flavors are available at farmers’ markets.

Popular flavors include carrot and onion, butternut squash, cabbage, farmer’s cheese, and potato and mushroom. She even makes spinach and feta or bacon and cheddar. “While some customers want traditional pierogi, I have clients that love what I do,” says Kakhtiranova.

Irida Kakhtiranova, owner of P’Frogi, fills the Pierogi she makes with a bacon and cheddar filling.

While the public has received the products well, “people have come up to me and said, ‘oh, you’re not Polish, why are you making pierogi?” Kakhtiranova continues, “You don’t have to be that nationality to enjoy the food and introduce it to other people. You just have to be a foodie person to know that bacon cheddar might not be Polish, but it’s going to taste so darn good in the pierogi. The dough turns brown, just because of how much bacon I put in them.”

Being a mother, Kakhtiranova learned that creative fillings are one way to get kids to enjoy vegetables. She notes, “If someone wants kids to eat their veggies, my pierogi are filled with veggies. When picky eaters enjoy my pierogi, I know I’m doing something right. Seeing people’s faces happy and bringing their kids to meet me makes me happy, but when that child comes back next week and wants more, it brings me joy.”

Kakhtiranova gets her ingredients from several local farms, including Teddy C. Smiarowski Farm, Red Fire Farm, Clarkdale Fruit Farms, and Randall’s Farm. Farmers have been a source of information and support as P’Frogi continues to grow. The local businesses and restaurants right in Florence and Northampton have been very helpful in sharing experiences and answering questions as they come up for Kakhtiranova.

P’Frogi is a family business. Bryan Johnson is Kakhtiranova’s husband who works alongside her in all aspects of the business, except rolling the dough. Their son who coined the business name is currently at Smith Vocational studying culinary, inspired by his mother.

The family goes to farmers’ markets, offering samples, talking to customers. They have repeat customers who follow P’Frogi on social media and find them. “I enjoy very much what I’m doing. It makes me very happy to learn why they’re enjoying my food,” says Kakhtiranova. “I find it important to connect with my customers. No one will describe my food with as much passion as I do. If someone has questions, I’m right there.”

There is more great food to P’Frogi than pierogi. Kakhtiranova makes golumpki (stuffed cabbage), hand pies and rice dishes. The family does events, and have their sights set on building up their wholesale sales.

Irida Kakhtiranova, owner of P’Frogi, cooks the cabbage used in Golabki’s she makes and sells in various stores and farmers market in the valley.

P’Frogi pierogi and golumpki are available at River Valley Co-op, Pekarski’s Sausage, Clarkdale Fruit Farms, and the winter farmers’ markets in Northampton, Easthampton, Belchertown, Forest Park Springfield, with more sites added frequently. Check the P’Frogi website and social media for holiday catering menus and pre-ordering.

Lisa Goodrich is communications coordinator for Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture, (CISA). Learn where you can buy local food and gifts for the holidays in our online guide at buylocalfood.org.

Image Credits: Carol Lollis, Daily Hampshire Gazette

Learning from the floods: To prepare for an unpredictable future, Valley farmers think big

By Jacob Nelson

“So much was just about to bloom,” says Suna Turgay of Flowerwork Farm in Northampton. “And then the flooding came.”

Warmer, wetter, and less predictable weather are all on the rise in New England as our climate changes. The idea of normal is constantly evolving, as each year seems to bring new challenges forcing local farmers to adapt.

Last summer’s persistent rainfall and catastrophic flooding left many farmers scrambling to keep their farms intact and businesses afloat. Dedicated farmers, individuals, community organizations, and public officials rallied in support in their hour of need. Now that waters have receded, many are reflecting on what lessons can be learned from last year’s ordeal.

Suna Turgay and Stacia Potter of Flowerwork Farm harvest bouquets at the end of a difficult season (Gazette photo/Carol Lollis)

It is worth noting that while flooding made the most headlines, local farmers contended with examples of extreme weather fueled by climate change on several fronts this year. Cold snaps in February and May destroyed peach buds and other fruit and berry blossoms, respectively. Meanwhile, many farms that were not flooded still faced low yields and rampant fungal disease caused by the rain.

However, the lessons learned from flooding raise ideas that are applicable to other challenges farmers face from extreme weather events.

With future growing conditions becoming both riskier and less predictable, building generalized resilience is becoming more important than ever. On the farm level, farmers are reassessing how they work with their land. At a community level, greater collaboration may help.

At a societal level, many are starting to question why farmers, who grow the food we need to survive, are not supported on par with other professionals who protect our basic needs and safety.

A flood in July?

The relatively new Flowerwork Farm sits on an eighth of an acre of leased land within the Northampton Community Farm run by Grow Food Northampton. There, next to the Mill River, Turgay and her farming partner Stacia Potter grow a mix of annuals, perennials, and herbs that become materials for floral arrangements sold locally or used in grand designs they create for weddings and other events.

Suna Turgay harvests flowers in October, which were replanted after flooding in July (Gazette photo/Carol Lollis)

“Stacia is more the artist, and I feel like a farmer growing the art supplies,” Turgay says. “We follow permaculture principles —  growing within nature’s patterns — and we don’t use any herbicides and barely any fertilizers, just compost.”

The farm’s layout is carefully designed to maximize yield in a small space while providing a welcoming habitat for wildlife and humans alike. With a differently abled child and a desire to welcome visitors to volunteer and learn, accessibility is central to Turgay’s vision.

The farmers knew flooding was a risk, but neither predicted anything like the events that unfolded on July 10. As Grow Food Northampton’s Michael Skillicorn describes, “When the Mill River jumped its banks that day, it flooded approximately 40 acres of our farm in just 20 minutes. Nine out of ten farmers on the land were affected, some with a complete crop loss and some with less. About three-quarters of the 320 community garden plots were also submerged.”

What was shocking about this flooding was the timing. In the Northeast, rivers and streams often swell past their banks in the spring when melting snow oversaturates the soil. The nutrients laid down by seasonal flooding of the Connecticut River and its tributaries are what make this region’s soils so coveted, and Indigenous and settler farmers have reaped the benefits of this fertility while accepting the somewhat predictable risks for thousands of years.

Yet as climate change shifts weather patterns, flooding is much less predictable. A warmer atmosphere is holding more moisture and letting loose more intense storms throughout the year. In fact, the Fifth National Climate Assessment just released by the federal government shows that days with 2-plus inches of rain have increased by almost 50% in the Northeast since the 1950s, while days with 5-plus inches of rain have doubled.

Now that this increased risk of flooding has gone from probability to reality, many local farmers have clearer ideas about how they can better prepare for the next one.

Farming smarter in a floodplain

“If I had gotten things in earlier, I would have had some harvest beforehand.”

That was Turgay’s first thought as she grappled with what the July 10 flood took from her. This past spring, she delayed planting until maintenance on the Northampton Community Farm’s water lines was complete, then rushed to plant everything right away, making up for lost time. As a result, many flowers were poised to bloom at the same time right before flooding destroyed them.

“It was a huge lesson in timing,’ she says. “Farmers are always thinking about succession planting (planting one crop after another in the same space to stagger the harvest) as a sales strategy, but reducing risk is a whole other reason to do it, and we learned that.”

Spreading out the harvest is one strategy that creates generalized resilience to any extreme conditions. Diversifying the kinds of crops planted is another. In a floodplain specifically, Turgay notes that perennial trees and shrubs with more established roots have a survival advantage, pointing to Smith College researcher Piyush Labhsetwar’s pawpaw orchard on the same community farmland, which mostly survived.

Piyush Labhsetwar speaks with lawmakers after flooding hit his research farm in July 2023. His pawpaw trees and perennial grains fared better than many neighboring farms’ veggie crops (Paul Shoul photo)

Another takeaway is that nonedible crops are a safer investment on flood-prone farmland. Since floodwaters are often contaminated by chemicals and pathogens, farmers cannot sell anything edible that gets submerged, and must wait weeks or months to replant, depending on the crop. Growing flowers, Turgay could use what survived and replant immediately.

Stepping back a bit, flooding has also highlighted equity ramifications of who farms where. As the Valley’s fertile river bottom land floods more often, less-resourced and historically marginalized farmers cultivating smaller areas are the least able to absorb losses. The footprint of a small farm might be entirely within a floodplain, while a larger farm has greater flood resilience simply because they spread across more land with differing levels of vulnerability.

It is much less likely that flooding completely wipes out a large farm, but smaller farms might lose everything. With less resources behind them, historically marginalized and smaller farm owners are also less able to move out of harm’s way.

Addressing these inequities is complicated, yet crucial to the pursuit of justice in our food system. Says Skillicorn, “As land stewards, we are grappling with the responsible and appropriate use of land, including which farms and people are using it. Ideally, the farmers working with flood-prone land should be able to better withstand the impacts of a flood.”

Thinking beyond the next flood

As climate change brings more risk of flooding, adapting farming strategies will be important. The same goes for addressing the disproportionate impact flooding has on the most vulnerable farmland — and the most vulnerable farmers. But flooding is just one concern of many.

Courtney Whitley of Ras Farm, located on the Northampton Community Farm, speaks to elected officials in front of his flooded fields (Paul Shoul photo)

“Next year we could have a late frost, or a drought,” Turgay says. “And farmers like me don’t have the resources to prepare for big disasters. Small disasters, maybe. But it’s hard when there’s so much to consider.”

And her comments are only about weather patterns. In recent years, economic volatility has also been a considerable burden on farmers, particularly rising costs for basic materials. From COVID-19 to avian flu, health emergencies added further complications. All these challenges were possible. None of them were forecast.

How do you prepare for a future you can’t predict? That is the core question in farmers’ efforts to persevere and keep feeding everyone.

“And it can’t be just a question for farmers to figure out,” says David Fisher, a farmer at Natural Roots in Conway. “We’re such a small, overworked, underpaid slice of the population. It has to be a question society answers as a whole.”

Natural Roots lost over 95% of their harvest last July when three floods swept through their cropland in the span of 12 days. Between efforts to keep the business afloat and to feed the farm’s community-supported agriculture members, Fisher has given this conundrum a lot of thought as well.

Leeks laid bare by floodwaters at Natural Roots (Paul Shoul photo)

Farming has always been uncertain, and with climate change the risk and probability of weather disasters is increasing. Plus, these impacts are global, wreaking havoc on farms everywhere. Importing more food grown elsewhere when local farms struggle is a less reliable strategy every passing year. Yet farming remains one of the most vulnerable jobs on the planet. As Fisher puts it, “We can’t back our work up to the cloud.”

This makes disaster relief a critical part of any strategy to ensure a reliable food supply in the age of climate change. In 2023, it’s unknown how many local farm businesses would have been pushed over the edge if not for incredible support from lawmakers and community members, particularly through the philanthropic Massachusetts Farm Resiliency Fund and the state-designated Natural Disaster Recovery Program for Agriculture. Together, both funds distributed over $23 million to embattled farmers, ensuring they could remain in business and keep feeding their communities.

“At the same time,” Fisher says, “disaster relief is like treating symptoms of an illness rather than working towards intrinsic health and resilience. What does an intrinsically healthy farm economy look like? I don’t know myself. But when I don’t have answers, I look to other models that seem to be working better.”

David Fisher of Natural Roots directs volunteers helping with flood clean up (Paul Shoul photo)

One familiar model Fisher points to is how communities support fire departments. Like farms, fire departments protect a basic human need, in this case shelter rather than food. But communities don’t invest in food security the same way they do public safety.

“My Conway Fire Department is funded by the community no question, no matter the circumstances,” he says. “Come hell or high water, they will be here to keep us safe. We don’t fund them based on how many fires they put out.”

Fisher and others acknowledge that these ideas might feel new, but they are not unprecedented. Many European countries provide farmers with far more assurance, funding resilience for farm businesses, the local food supply, and the environment. These policies are not aimed at enriching small and mid-size farmers. Instead, they provide a floor that prevents farmers from sinking into ruin.

“Eventually,” Fisher says, “I would like to see farmers and farmworkers financially supported so we can take care of the land, take care of ourselves, and feed our community without being squeezed for all we can sacrifice.”

In an age of big challenges, pursuing a brighter future might mean leaving behind some long-held strategies and ways of thinking and embracing new ideas. No one has it all figured out, but when it comes to the food system, local farmers have a ground-floor view of what might work.

Jacob Nelson is communications coordinator for CISA (Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture). To learn more about CISA’s work and ways to support local farms confronting the impacts of climate change, visit buylocalfood.org/climateaction.

The Farm Manager integrates the labor of teen interns, students, volunteers and educational groups into the Farm management plan, while also recruiting and supervising new volunteers and interns as needed.  The Farm Manager works closely with the Farm Educator and co-Directors to meet the educational, community building, and food access needs of five core programs. These core programs require timely harvests, an integrated crop plan, and collaborative conversation with co-workers.

The Farm Manager serves as one of our primary public-facing staff members who greets visitors, answers questions, and makes them feel welcome. This happens during a scheduled Pick-Your-Own program staffed weekly by the Farm Manager, and also through drop-in Pick-Your-Own participants.

Read the full job description on our website: www.abundancefarm.org/jobs

The salary range for this position is $38,000-$41,000.  We value the time you spend outside the office as much as we value the time you spend with us; our flexible scheduling and vacation policies are designed to encourage a healthy work/life balance. Benefits include: 10 days of paid vacation, 8 federal holidays, time off or compensatory time off for religious Jewish holidays, professional development allowance, 2 personal days, 6 sick days, health insurance with 80% covered by CBI, participation in CBI’s 403(b) plan with 2% match after the first year of service, synagogue membership, and, if applicable, free religious school tuition.

Applications will be reviewed as they are received. To apply please send your resume, a cover letter, and contact information for three professional references to info@abundancefarm.org. Please title the email “Farm Manager application.” Applications will not be considered without each of these pieces.

The position is currently open and the ideal candidate is available to start February 1st, 2024.

More aid to region’s farmers

Farm disaster fund disburses round of $3.3M in grants; state announces another $20M

By JAMES PENTLAND, Staff Writer
Daily Hampshire Gazette, December 12, 2023

NORTHAMPTON — Western and central Massachusetts farmers are being bolstered by $23.3 million in disaster relief from a philanthropic fund set up in the wake of July’s devastating floods and further state aid announced Monday by the Healey-Driscoll administration.

The Farm Resiliency Fund, established by the United Way of Central Massachusetts and Healey’s office after heavy rain across the region in early July caused riverside fields to flood, including hundreds of acres along the Connecticut River, has emptied its coffers and distributed a second round of grants to farmers in need.

In all, the fund has distributed $3.3 million to 228 farmers as of Dec. 4, the Community Fund of Western Massachusetts announced.

At the same time, the state is awarding farmers $20 million in disaster relief, with 94 farms in Hampshire County, southern Franklin County and Holyoke directly benefiting from the program.

“It’s helped immensely, all the farmers,” said Wally Czajkowski of Plainville Farm in Hadley, one of the beneficiaries of the Farm Resiliency Fund.

“We all have large bills through the end of the year.”

Czajkowski said the flooding reduced his winter squash crop to half what it should have been, and left soil-borne diseases that mean those fields can never be used to grow squash again.

Squash, tobacco and asparagus — which likes wet weather — are the farm’s main crops, with fields in Hampshire and Franklin counties.

The Community Fund and Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) have helped to administer the fund, which had collected more than $3 million by September from more than 650 individuals and businesses.

An initial round of grants went out Sept. 1 to 214 eligible farmers who submitted qualified applications. Almost all the applicants received $10,000, according to Philip Korman, CISA’s executive director, unless their need was less. A second round of grants, totaling approximately $1.2 million, has now gone out to some 70 farms, Korman said. Applicants in this round were screened on the basis of need. “You couldn’t get money in second round if you got money in the first round unless the need was $80,000 or more,” he said. Many of the 70 farms did receive money in both rounds because the need was so great, he said. Amounts distributed were between $5,000 and $35,000. “We knew (the fund) wouldn’t cover all the losses,” Korman said.

Community Fund CEO Megan Burke said communities came together quickly to help soften farmers’ losses. “We are grateful for the hundreds of donors that have given to the Massachusetts Farm Resiliency Fund in support of our hardworking farmers,” Burke said in a statement.

Tim Garvin, president and CEO of the United Way of Central Massachusetts, said the fund at this point has given out all the dollars given and pledged, but that’s not to say its work won’t continue. “When we were asked to stand up the fund it was with the awareness that this will not be the only weather event to affect Massachusetts farmers,” he said.

The partnership and the structure remain, he said, and if more donations come in, they will be held in readiness for the next area of need. Garvin said administering the fund “was a labor of love,” making special note of the letters of appreciation he had received from farmers.

“None of us knew what to expect when we got involved,” he said. “We soon recognized we were great collaborators, kindred spirits and friends. It has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.”

Czajkowski said he thought all the farmers would like to thank the governor, Legislature and the organizations involved in the relief effort. “And thanks to all the people of Massachusetts, because that’s who bailed us out,” he said.

Crop loss fund

The United Way fund was focused only on flood damage. State government set up its own Natural Disaster Recovery Program with $20 million from the Legislature’s supplemental budget.

That fund is intended to reimburse farmers for all weather-related crop losses, which included freezes in February and May that blighted the peach and apple crops.

On Monday, Gov. Maura Healey announced that immediate assistance would go to 347 farmers in Western and Central Massachusetts who experienced significant crop losses.

Applicants were required to be a Massachusetts- based agricultural operation growing field crops, hay and forage crops, or produce crops. Eligible farms had to demonstrate that they suffered losses of greater than 15% of their total planted acreage during one of the 2023 natural disasters.

State Rep. Natalie M. Blais, D-Deerfield, said the storm damage experienced by farms over the summer was unfathomable. “This direct financial assistance will go a long way in helping to ensure the continued viability of our farms, thereby maintaining the bedrock of our local food system,” Blais said. “I stand alongside our farmers in deep gratitude for the prompt response of the Legislature and the Healey-Driscoll administration.”

Nearly $6.7 million from the state’s program is helping farms in the Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester district, said Sen. Jo Comerford, DNorthampton. “Today, $20 million is being delivered to farmers statewide to assist with recovering and rebuilding from natural disasters,” Comerford said. But that fund, too, will be insufficient to cover the losses.

Phu Mai, communications director for the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, said the state had received 356 applications from farmers reporting losses valued at $65 million and requesting $42 million in aid.

In August, MDAR estimated at least 148 farms had been impacted by flooding, with over 2,700 acres in crop losses

Payments made to hundreds of farmers impacted by freezes, floods

Apply 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.

The Massachusetts Farmland Action Plan is the result of the collaborative work of over 600 agricultural stakeholders and provides a roadmap to accelerate the pace of farmland protection, address issues of inequity when it comes to farmland access, and help farms with the support they need from funding, technical assistance and business planning to enhance their viability. In this role, the Coordinator will play a pivotal role in supporting the execution of the Plan by helping to facilitate collaboration among a wide variety of agricultural and land use stakeholders to ensure the successful implementation of key initiatives aimed at preserving farmland across the state, ensuring access, and enhancing viability. The Coordinator will organize meetings and working groups, create memos and reports, and develop materials and other educational materials to help ensure a collective understanding of the importance of the Plan, its goals and initiatives, and its importance for today’s and future generations. The Coordinator will also ensure the plan is addressing needs, new and evolving issues and challenges that may emerge in the agricultural sector.

The ideal candidate for this position will have planning and policy experience, be a strong communicator with excellent project management skills, a high degree of comfort with public engagement and outreach among diverse stakeholders, knowledge of the Massachusetts food system, and be motivated to take an active role in sustaining the agricultural production system in Massachusetts.

If you have 5 or more years of professional experience in the agricultural industry or a related field and are passionate about agriculture, farmland conservation, and making a meaningful impact on the Massachusetts agricultural community, we encourage you to apply for this position. Your expertise and dedication will contribute to the successful implementation of the Farmland Action Plan.

The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) is the state agency responsible for supporting, regulating and enhancing the rich diversity of the Commonwealth’s agricultural community to promote economically and environmentally sound food safety and animal health measures, and fulfill agriculture’s role in energy conservation and production. 

This is a 37.5 hour/week contract position based in the Boston, Southborough, West Springfield or Lakeville office. MDAR currently operates on a hybrid work schedule that includes work at home, in the field, and in office as needed.  The Department of Agriculture is an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action Employer.  Females, minorities, veterans, and persons with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.

You can apply for positions by logging into MassCareers or through the following portal through www.mass.gov/anf/employment-equal-access-disability/masscareers/masscareers.html

Requisition Link:

Please note that requisitions (former Posting IDs) will remain open for 90 days; however, first consideration will be given to those applicants that apply within the first 14 days of the posting. 

The MassCareers job posting is available by clicking on the Requisition Link.

We are seeking an experienced FULL-TIME FARM HAND from May through mid-November
for general fieldwork, transplanting, irrigating, trellising, mulching, pruning, weeding, setting
fence, livestock chores, and washing, harvesting and packing produce. We’re looking for
positive, detail-oriented folks who can work well in a team and also independently. Applicants
must have at least one year of vegetable farming experience. Pay is $18/hour with accumulated
paid time off and sick time. Interested applicants should send a letter of interest with an attached
resume.

Visit our website www.naturalroots.com for more information or contact
David Fisher naturalrootscsa@gmail.com