Join us! reserve now:  $65 for Berkshire Grown members, join

here  $75 a ticket if you are not a Berkshire Grown member

Call 413-528-0041

See  story in Berkshire Eagle here 

  Dates, Places, contact info here!

Berkshire Grown member-hosted workshops will present hands-on demonstrations.  Huge variety of workshops, times, teachers, more here!  

Watercolor by Stephanie Anderson

Allium Restaurant + Bar    

Baba Louie's  

Barrington Brewery  

Berkshire Mountain Distillers 

CafeADAM    

Café Reva    

Canyon Ranch    

Castle Street Cafe     

Chez Nous    

Eastover Hotel and Resort    

 Firefly Restaurant and Catering     

Gala Steakhouse & Bistro @ Orchards Hotel    

Gramercy Bistro    

Guido's Fresh Marketplace    

John Andrews: A Farmhouse Restaurant    

Marketplace Kitchen    

Martin's Restaurant    

Mezze Bistro + Bar    

The Old Inn on the Green   

The Red Lion Inn

Riverbend Cafe   

Route 7 Grill

Savory Harvest Catering    

Spice Dragon    

Williams College Dining  

September 22, 8:00pm - The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center

Award-winning author and essayist Barry Lopez: 

A Different Kind of Citizenship:  Maintaining Good Relations with the Earth

Tickets support Project Native 

Many Farmers Markets are still open!  

                                               Support your local farmer!

 VISIT A FARMERS' MARKET THIS WEEK! 

MORE FARMERS' MARKETS  click on MAP-O-LICIOUS 

What We're Reading

 "Fresh and Direct From the Garden an Ocean Away" 

by John Tierney  

"Charles C. Mann has faced up to the locavore's dilemma. At his home in the Berkshires, he likes to eat food that has traveled directly from his own garden: heirloom tomatoes, eggplant, bell peppers, kale, chard, lettuce and other foods for his table. He and his family belong to a farm-share program in which they advance money each year to a farmer a few miles away in return for the farm's crops. He loves local food, but he knows too much about it to be a truly devout locavore..."  read more in the New York Times. 

Thanks to our sponsor for the series:

IREDALE MINERAL COSMETICS  

Amy Cotler wins the second annual Victoria A. Simons Locavore Award, which recognizes notable achievement in bringing together local farmers and consumers in support of locally grown products.   

Amy Cotler, a long time farm to table advocate, is the founding director of Berkshire Grown, and author of The Locavore Way: Discover and Enjoy the Pleasures of Locally Grown Food, a comprehensive guide to seeking out and savoring local food. She has worked extensively to bring local farm fresh food into the Massachusetts schools through her project and book, The Massachusetts Farm to Table Cookbook, which was distributed to every district in the state, is free on her website here and was recently adapted for the state of Missouri. She is currently organizing the up-coming Harvest Festival at the Berkshire Botanical Garden on October 1st and 2nd. She posts her offerings, including a blog with farm fresh recipes  here.

Meet Berkshire Grown's Farmers  

A personal farm tour with Jen and Phil Leahey of LEAHEY FARM

Sunday, October 16, 2011

1:00pm - 3:00pm

At Leahey Farm on Reservoir Rd. in Lee

$15.00 per person - (limited to 10, so please pre-register)

The Leaheys write: "More of us want to know not only where our food comes from, but who is producing it and how it is raised. Farming is a lifestyle which, for us, encompasses the physical, mental and spiritual.

We believe farming requires a direct and ongoing relationship to the land, animals - both wild and domestic, seasonality and rhythms of life.

photo: Jonathan Hankin 

"Come experience what it means to be on our family farm where we raise heritage breeds of livestock - naturally, humanely and sustainably - to produce locally sold beef and pork.

"This will be a very personal tour that will honestly address the numerous rewards and equally numerous challenges faced with everyday life on the farm, ranging from animal care issues to coexisting with family and community."

For background information about Leahey farm visit Berkshire Food Journal:

go to the list of INTERVIEWS and scroll to Leahey Farm for a slideshow presentation.

To register or for further questions, email Phil and Jen at  leaheyfarm@yahoo.com.

Quick Bites

DISCOVER THE:  

Berkshire Grown Online Farmers' Market

a 24 hour Farmers' Market! 

Self-propelled by Berkshire Grown members, the page will benefit those of you who choose to participate in it. Farmers and food producers can post what they have available, and chefs and community members can comment or contact suppliers directly with requests for product or more information.   

Thanks for the photo to Nicole Calero, taken at Hawthorne Valley Farm   

Berkshire Grown offers this as a networking service and bears no responsibility for transactions.

MASSACHUSETTS GROWN...and FRESHER!  

 If you are traveling through Massachusetts check out this map, support our local farmers throughout the state!

Practices and Principles of Growing Nutrient Dense Vegetables  

Friday, October 7 2011 & Friday, March 23, 2012 9:30 am - 4:30 pm 

For information on specifics, contact the garden 413 298 3926 four weeks prior to the course.)

This course is for serious home vegetable gardeners as well as professionals caring for vegetable gardens. This course is an overview of how biological systems function and support you in addressing limiting factors in your garden. Examine: soil testing and mineral balancing, biological inoculation, seed sizing and sorting, potting soil, tillage, fertility, in season plant and soil monitoring and supplemental feeding based on plant needs.  

Dan Kittredge is an organic farmer and co founder of the Real Food Campaign.