Denise Barstow Manz 
I am a watercolorist currently, with a varied past of working in oils, printmaking, stained glass and relief printing. I enjoy depicting my local environment of flowers, fields and fruits of the farmer’s labors. What could be nicer than to celebrate Hadley with a day outside painting crows picking over a cut cornfield in the fall or … Read more
Here are a few articles the Barstow family was reading this month: Fresh Talk: It’s hard to be a dairy farmer. But it’s worth it. But every farm has some important similarities. We all take the best care possible of our cows, and we do everything in our power to protect our soils and waterways. … Read more
Here at Barstow’s Longview Farm everybody has a personality so everybody has a name. Calves born around the same time have names that begin with the same letter. These calves were born in the last half of February. Congratulations to our Name the Calf Contest winners! Dixie by Ashley Wynaronski Dusty by Pat Ryan Dancer … Read more
The winter is slow at Barstow’s Dairy Store and Bakery. We would love to be busy all the time – we miss seeing our high season customers and it would help us pay our bills a little more easily – but with longer nights, colder days, and shorter hours, it does make sense. For that … Read more
Dear wonderful people! It is with such gratitude and joy that we write this letter to our farmhands at Barstow’s Longview Farm and our Barstow’s Dairy Store and Bakery staff, past and present! We trust you to not only handle cash, prepare food, and be welcoming to our customers – to treat our herd with … Read more
Ooof this one hurt. I subscribe to the New York Times Climate Forward Newsletter and also their Daily Email Newsletter. I love them, I learn a lot, and it’s a great addition to my day. On Wednesday afternoon I was scrambling to catch up on emails before feeding the calves and into my inbox popped: … Read more
Here at Barstow’s Longview Farm everybody has a personality so everybody has a name. Calves born around the same time have names that begin with the same letter. These calves were born in the first half of February. Congratulations to our Name the Calf Contest winners! Celeste by Laurel Stewart Claire by Nora Raphael Charlotte … Read more
Last night, Dylan and I had the pleasure of attending “Drinking with Dinosaurs,” a special “Culture & Cocktails” event put on by the Springfield Museums. While sipping wine, we roamed the halls of the Science Museum – the perfect date night am I right? The highlight of this event was “Dinosaur Discoveries: Ancient Fossils, New … Read more
Here at Barstow’s Longview Farm everybody has a personality so everybody has a name. Calves born around the same time have names that begin with the same letter. These calves were born in the first half of January. Congratulations to our Name the Calf Contest winners! Almond by Lisa Patterson (the only kind of almond … Read more
Although it was no where near Polar Vortex status, New England endured a painful cold snap last week. Between tarps on the barn that block out wind, heated floors in the robot milkers, and body heat from 250, 1,400lb animals, the cows stay content in the cold. The ideal temperature for a dairy cow is … Read more