The Millstone Market 
Around here, asparagus season feels like the real start of spring. Once the first local bundles start showing up at farm stands and markets, everybody starts looking for it. People in the Pioneer Valley have been calling it “Hadley Grass” for generations. The Connecticut River Valley turned out to be a really good place to … Read more
The asparagus comes in, and people start cooking it the same way every year. Straight into a pan. Butter or oil. A few minutes and it’s done. That’s usually the first move, especially with the thinner stalks that show up early across the Pioneer Valley. Roasting tends to wait. Not for any real reason. Just … Read more
What to Do With Asparagus While It’s Here Asparagus season doesn’t last very long around here. One minute it’s cold and raining every other day, then suddenly everybody in Sunderland is throwing asparagus on the grill. Most of the time we keep it simple. Olive oil, salt, maybe lemon. Still, we ended up looking around … Read more
Strawberry season gets out of hand fast around here. You buy berries thinking you’ll make shortcake, then half of them disappear before anybody even finds the whipped cream. Still, we started looking around online for dessert ideas because there are only so many bowls of strawberries a person can eat in June. Some of these … Read more
What to Look for and Why It Matters The asparagus comes in here a little later than most places. You can buy it earlier, of course. It’s been coming up in California and Mexico for weeks by the time anything starts pushing through the soil around the Pioneer Valley. By then it’s already been cut, … Read more