A massive fire tore through the Golonka farmhouse in Whately, Massachusetts last week. Sonia and Mary Golonka died. A sad day for the Golonka family, the Pioneer Valley agricultural community and the never ending stream of customers who visit the Golonka Farm produce stand all season long. Most farms and ranches in the United States [...]
Posted on April 8th, 2013 by Debby
Filed under: Agriculture, Buy Local, Farms & Farmers, Rural Life, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted with permission from Richard S. Gilbert, this lovely piece of writing sets the stage for what happened in 2008. The second Barn for Barack was a story we posted as a slide show in September, 2008. Thank you, Richard, for allowing us a glimpse into the family and the people behind the Second Barn [...]
Posted on October 13th, 2012 by Debby
Filed under: Election 2008, Election 2012, Farms & Farmers, Obama, People, Rural Life | No Comments »
The economy in rural areas of 10 Midwestern and Western states continued to look weak this month as the region begins a slow recovery from this summer’s oppressive drought, according to The Rural Mainstreet Index, an economic survey of rural bankers by Creighton University in Omaha. The economic index for this month is 48.3, up slightly [...]
Posted on September 24th, 2012 by Debby
Filed under: Agriculture, Environment, Farms & Farmers, Food, Rural Life | No Comments »
The 15th annual Woody Guthrie Folk Festival opens tomorrow in the singer-songwriter’s hometown of Okemah, Okla., and it will be a special one, running through the 100th anniversary of his birth on Saturday, July 14. The Woody Guthrie Centennial website says, “His songs have run around the world like a fast train on a well oiled track. [...]
Posted on July 10th, 2012 by Debby
Filed under: History, Rural Life, Social Justice | No Comments »
National Farmers Union (NFU) opened its 110th Anniversary Convention last night. More than 500 Farmers Union members from across the country met at the LaVista Conference Center in LaVista, Neb., for the four-day event. This year’s convention theme is New Horizons for Agriculture. “This is a critical year for agriculture as we work to complete [...]
Posted on March 5th, 2012 by Debby
Filed under: Agriculture, Farms & Farmers, Rural Life | No Comments »
By Miryam Ehrlich Williamson The thing to remember about water when the lowest level of your house is being flooded is that it’s as lazy as a three-toed sloth. Well, almost as lazy. Sloths are known for hanging upside down and moving as little as possible. There’s a reason for this: their diet is made [...]
Posted on March 7th, 2011 by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson
Filed under: Rural Life, Uncategorized, Union busting | No Comments »
By Miryam Ehrlich Williamson Family stuff kept me today from going to 350.org‘s 10-10-10 event in Brattleboro, Vermont, which had the virtues of being the closest to my home and the most interesting (to me) around here. So instead I went out with my camera and made pictures of what I want to remember when/if [...]
Posted on October 10th, 2010 by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson
Filed under: Environment, Rural Life | 1 Comment »
By Miryam Ehrlich Williamson Used to be, if you wanted to see moose you drove 200-300 miles north from here into Northern Maine, New Hampshire, or Vermont. This year they’re here in Warwick ( Mass.). Yesterday, three miles from my house, I came upon this young fellow. If I’d been speeding I’d have hit him; [...]
Posted on July 10th, 2010 by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson
Filed under: Climate Change, Rural Life | 3 Comments »
By Miryam Ehrlich Williamson Mary moved to our town a couple of years ago. A retired dog trainer, she brought ten dogs with her and rented a house from perhaps the only man in town with the courage to allow such a menage move into the house he’d grown up in — and next door [...]
Posted on July 6th, 2010 by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson
Filed under: Rural Life | 4 Comments »
from The Rural Blog Entrepreneurship is up across the country, but with the help of non-profit organizations and the rise of broadband Internet access, rural areas may getting more than their usual share of business startups. “From 2008 to 2009, the number of self-employed Americans increased by 200,000 to 8.9 million, according to Challenger Gray [...]
Posted on June 22nd, 2010 by Debby
Filed under: Economy, Internet, Rural Life, Telecommunications | No Comments »
