Spring in the Valley is a time of renewal and a reminder that strong local food systems depend on continued community support.

Your financial support enables CISA to continue to provide meaningful assistance to area farms with climate adaptation strategies, best practices for business planning and employee management, and planning for future farm succession.

Thank you for helping us do this meaningful work.

Artwork: “Upland Hills” by Laura Radwell. Visit her website to view more of her artwork.

Why not celebrate the moms in your life with a special local meal or locally grown springtime gifts (or both!)?

Visit a local garden center, pick up a hanging basket, or order flowers from a local grower.

And for a special meal featuring locally grown ingredients, check out a Local Hero restaurant!

Pictured: Meadowbrook Farm, East Longmeadow

Spring is officially here! Farmers' markets and farm stands are opening, and the early harvest has begun!

It's asparagus season!

Freshly harvested asparagus can't be beat for flavor and snap! Find farms with asparagus here.

Time to put in the garden

The risk of frost has just about passed (depending on where you live) so now is the time to look for locally grown bedding plants, fruit and berry plants, herb plants, and anything else you need to make your garden grow!

Springtime fun on the farm!

This is a beautiful time of year to visit a local farm for fun with family or friends. Pet a baby animal, enjoy an ice cream cone, and revel in the beauty of our Valley! Find farms that offer family activities here, and click on "filter" to narrow it down to your specific interests.

Looking for a farm winery or brewery for the adults? Find local libations here!

Take a peek behind the scenes at local farms and other local businesses through CISA's weekly Valley Bounty column in the Daily Hampshire Gazette and interviews on The Fabulous 413 on NEPM! Find them all here. These are a couple of recent highlights:

NEPM: Sixteen Acres Garden Center

If you haven’t visited Sixteen Acres Garden Center in Springfield yet, it’s time for a field trip--and just in time for Mother’s Day!

The sprawling garden center has greenhouses and outdoor spaces full of trees and shrubs, houseplants, aquatic plants, native plants, annuals, bulbs, and succulents!

Give our recent interview a listen!

Valley Bounty: Mi Tierra Tortillas

Jorge Sosa was running Mi Tierra Restaurant and experimenting with making his own corn tortillas when he met Michael Docter, who was farming in Hadley. Sosa was not satisfied with the available masa flours on the market.

He says, “Corn tortillas are better when made from real, whole corn. Michael and I started talking about my idea. I asked a cousin in Mexico to send me some corn seed to try to grow here in Hadley.”

After a lot of trial and error, the two landed on corn varieties that grow well in our region and launched Mi Tierra Tortillas, which has a production facility in Springfield.

Read the rest of their story!

Thanks to our sponsors!

Broadside Bookshop

Dean’s Beans Organic Coffee

Farm Credit East

Franklin Community Co-op

Freedom First Federal Credit Union

Keiter Builders

Marty’s Local

Toward Harmony Tai Chi & Qigong

Please do not take images or content to use on your own site or project without CISA's explicit permission. Please feel free to link to our newsletter. Archives can be found at buylocalfood.org.

Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture, Inc is an equal opportunity provider and employer.