Locavores Drive Boom in New England Winter Farming

To those familiar with New England's persnickety climate, the idea of winter farming here may seem like a humorous oxymoron. But thanks to the growing demand for fresh locally-grown produce, it’s become a serious part of the agricultural economy here.

Not so long ago, most observers were ready to write the obituary for a once proud heritage as one farm after another fell to developers’ bulldozers. Then something happened, as little by little people rediscovered the value and pleasure of fresh foods. Business at the old roadside stands picked up, and new ones started to appear. Then farmers markets started getting organized, at first just seasonal events lasting from mid-summer into fall. Now, even that’s beginning to change, as all six of the New England states are showing a sharp increase in the number of year-round farmers markets. “It’s great to see farmers and market managers who are dedicated to providing consumers with access to fresh, nutritious, locally-grown food all year long,” said Scott Soares, Massachusetts’ agriculture commissioner in a department press release. “It’s also great to see consumers embracing the concept that eating locally grown food is possible throughout the year.” The department’s website lists five year-round farmers markets state-wide, and another dozen that are open well into winter, a trend that can be found in all of the New England states The idea of winter farming in New England may have begun with a trip to France by a Maine couple. In 1996, organic farmer and writer Eliot Coleman and his wife Barbara Damrosch were traveling through France and Italy, at roughly the same latitude as Maine. “The whole time we had seen gardens in January with Brussels sprouts and leeks,” Coleman recalled in an interview with the Portland Press Herald. That’s when he realized he could do the same in Maine, inside greenhouses, since there was the same amount of daylight, but a significant difference in temperature. The experiment proved successful, and now other farmers throughout New England are fixing up old greenhouses and building new ones. And it’s not just about food. In Pawtucket, Rhode Island, for example, the Wintertime Farmers Market, now in its second year, can be found in the Hope Artiste Village, a restored brick mill alongside artists, booksellers, and photographers.