In Greenfield, a parcel of land belonging to the city is being stewarded by new farmers who’re building access into the way they tend the land.Just Roots is located on what used to be the town’s “poor farm,” but now is 61 acres of community garden, produce, companion land for their agricultural endeavors and beyond. We speak with farm Manager Meryl La Tronica, Greenfield Farmer's Market Manager, Taylor Lopatofsky, and CISA's Clarissa Adan about the important place the farm plays in Franklin County.
Just south on Route 9 in Florence, a bookstore is feeding the literary dreams of littles all across western Massachusetts.High Five Books might have blossomed just before the pandemic, but it fostered a love of reading and an incredible network of authors and illustrators in the intervening years. We sit with owner Lexi Wright to hear about the store’s journey, a journey you can make of your own for the Pioneer Valley Book Crawl, and the recent honor she’s received from the Commonwealth.
Plus, interim Word Nerd and NEPM Jazz à la Mode host Peter Sokolowski, editor at large for Merriam-Webster, duplicates our understanding with a look at the unique ways English deals with pluralization.
