The Friday Night Cafe takes place at the Cummington Village Church, 32 Main Street, on second and fourth Fridays from September to June. In this time of COVID-19, instead of a live show at the cafe, performers have the option of making “at home” audio only, self-recordings with whatever tools they have available: from phones … Continue reading Friday Night Cafe – 2020-2021 Season Kickoff
Author: Joshua Wachtel
Meat, Money and Community
Below is a marketing email from a local Worthington, Massachusetts, farm that was always awesome, and the pandemic has only made them awesomer. Read this and digest the myriad issues relevant to this farm and our community. Land is expensive. Feed is expensive. Life is expensive. Yet young farmers who are getting their hands on … Continue reading Meat, Money and Community
Friday Night Cafe 2019-2020 Season Finale
A 'Lo-Fi' tribute to The Beatles: 50 years after their breakup The Friday Night Cafe takes place at the Cummington Village Church, 32 Main Street, second and fourth Fridays from September to June. Our season finale is always a 50 year anniversary musical tribute. In this time of COVID 19, instead of a live show … Continue reading Friday Night Cafe 2019-2020 Season Finale
Rural education in crisis
Half a century ago, regionalization in Massachusetts drove small towns across the state to ditch their old high schools and consolidate. Regionalization made it possible for small town kids to attend larger schools with a wider range of teachers and more sophisticated facilities and resources. But it also struck a blow to the New England … Continue reading Rural education in crisis
Asparagus/Climate Change/Woodchips/Washing Machine
by Lincoln Fishman, Sawyer Farm, Worthington, MA Lots of asparagus starting this week and going for the next few weeks. All the rain has made them very juicy and sweet. The endless rain and clouds have delayed the start of harvest, but this wonderful perennial seems happy and healthy anyway. That's about the only thing … Continue reading Asparagus/Climate Change/Woodchips/Washing Machine
Ep. 2: The Nut Farmers
In the second episode of the New Rural Advocate podcast, Seva Tower and Kalyan Uprichard, caretakers of Nutwood Farm, talk about how they aim to create something new and unconventional by seeking knowledge from the old and living according to their sense of what truly needs doing at this time - a radical alternative to … Continue reading Ep. 2: The Nut Farmers
Ep.1: New Rural Advocate Podcast
In the premier episode of the New Rural Advocate podcast, I interview my friend Lincoln Fishman, a local farmer. We chatted after dusk out on the porch of Lincoln's farm store. He shares how an impulse to teach urban Latino kids about where their food comes from eventually led him to quit teaching and become … Continue reading Ep.1: New Rural Advocate Podcast
Resiliency Summit Keynote Address
The speech that follows was written and delivered by my friend Minister Stephen Philbrick. He was one of a team I brought together to organize an event we called a Community Resiliency Summit in March 23, 2013. About 110 of our friends and neighbors showed up to hear a series of short talks followed by … Continue reading Resiliency Summit Keynote Address
A Farmer’s Serenity Prayer
My friend Lincoln Fishman farms Sawyer Farm in Worthington, Ma. He has built a strong local following for his produce. Using a team of horses to do much of work, he is demonstrating how intensive farming can improve depleted soil and provide excellent food. Perhaps most of all, he and his wife Hilary Costa have … Continue reading A Farmer’s Serenity Prayer
A Call to Action
The New Rural Advocate will provide space for multiple authors to share original writings about relevant topics, including healthy agriculture, creative economy, community regeneration, nonprofit organization, cooperative networking, democratic governance, care for the commons and much more.
The New Rural Advocate 