5 Love Languages on the Farm

The 5 Love Languages In honor of the upcoming V-Day holiday, this newsletter is dedicated to the 5 Love Languages that you might find in a healthy relationship, or on a multi-generational dairy farm like ours! Love Language #1 – Words of Affirmation We have the special opportunity to work with our family members daily … Read more

Christmas Bird Count Tally

Thank you to the dedicated folks that participate in the annual Christmas Bird Count each year! We’re delighted to have the list of the birds counted in the meadow-land we farm by the river from December 22. Check it out: > Barstow’s riverside property, Hampshire, Massachusetts, US > Dec 18, 2022 6:41 AM – 9:19 … Read more

Videos Highlight Massachusetts Farmers’ Commitment to Soil Health

Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation February 14, 2022 A series of videos showcases the various ways farmers in Massachusetts are supporting soil health and sustainability. The videos feature produce and other crop growers, a dairy farmer and a researcher from the University of Massachusetts who works with the state’s farmers. Along with a 27-minute video, the … Read more

Nurturing Your Foundation Builds Stronger Farms and Communities

I was offered the rewarding experience to write and deliver a talk for the TEDx Amherst stage. COVID may have turned this event into a virtual show, but it was a real pleasure to share my idea with my community. Grateful for the opportunity and for the sustaining foundation I am rooted in.

Kestrel Land Trust: 50th Anniversary Stories

Since December 1970, thousands of people like you have given Kestrel Land Trust the inspiration and ability to save the landscapes that shaped our past and create our future. In the last 5 decades, we’ve worked together to conserve more than 25,000 acres of forests and woodlands for wildlife, natural parks and trails close to … Read more

Gratitude Journal: The Rainbow Scarab Beetle

Barstow’s Longview Farm recently received an email from an entomologist looking to traipse around the cow pasture in search of a rare beetle. “Sure!” we replied back. So he scheduled a time to visit, and ordered four pies from Barstow’s Dairy Store and Bakery for pick up that same day.  The subject of the visit? … Read more

Gratitude Journal: A Year of Service

Last week I finished up my TerraCorps (AmeriCorps) year of service at Kestrel Land Trust. It was a year full of accomplishments and learning as I worked with underserved populations in the Valley, conducted programming to promote the preservation of open space, and helped with a project that will ultimately protect more farmland and farms … Read more

Building a Stronger Community On and Off the Farm

Kestrel Land Trust | Blog Denise Barstow just completed her year-long service year as Kestrel’s Community Engagement and Regional Conservation Coordinator through the TerraCorps AmeriCorps program. She also works at Barstow’s Longview Farm in Hadley, owned by her family for 7 generations. In 2014, when my dad and uncle called a family meeting to discuss … Read more

Who let the cows out? Pandemic doesn’t stop dairy farm’s Pasture Day event

By SCOTT MERZBACH Daily Hampshire Gazette  Published: 5/12/2020 HADLEY — Taking tentative and seemingly nervous steps, six heifers had a new experience awaiting them Tuesday morning as they jumped from a trailer into the pasture where they will be spending the next few months. Only moments after their hooves hit the grass, though, the young … Read more

Signup for Barstow's monthly newsletter