Farm market season begins

SHARON — It’s not your imagination; it actually was warmer at this time last year. Or at least that’s what farmer Charlie Paley claims.“I keep obsessive records,” he confided on Sunday afternoon, April 3, as he was about to close down Paley’s Farm Market for the day, following an active opening weekend.“Last year on our opening weekend it was in the 70s,” he said, sounding not exactly wistful but also not exactly happy.When the weather is balmy, he said, gardeners rush the farm market on its opening day. They are full of a pent-up and urgent need to hold tender seedlings in their hands and nestle threadlike white roots into soft, black, fragrant soil.This year, it was just a bit too cold and blustery for that. People stayed home to watch baseball and basketball instead, or perhaps to nap. Which is not to say that the market wasn’t busy. Saturday especially saw a good turnout (“It was actually an incredible turnout,” Paley said). When they got to the farm market greenhouses, shoppers found packs of nascent heads of lettuce, assorted flowers in flats and a few other hardy type plants that might survive this in hospitable spring.Pansies were especially popular. They actually prefer cool weather. “Plant them now, they don’t mind the cold, Paley said. “They’ll be in their full glory by May.”The lettuce should probably stay indoors for another week. “It can tolerate a little frost but we’re still getting some really cold nights,” he said. “We’ll probably put ours in the ground at the end of this week.”Hardy herbs such as thyme and sage can go in the ground soon. Of course, it all depends on what the weather does in the next few weeks. In true farmer form, Paley would not make any predictions about the conditions in the coming weeks or months. “I’m just crossing my fingers,” he said. Paley’s Farm Market will be open in April seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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Classifieds - February 26, 2026

Classifieds - February 26, 2026

Help Wanted

PART-TIME CARE-GIVER NEEDED: possibly LIVE-IN. Bright private STUDIO on 10 acres. Queen Bed, En-Suite Bathroom, Kitchenette & Garage. SHARON 407-620-7777.

The Salisbury Association’s Land Trust seeks part-time Land Steward: Responsibilities include monitoring easements and preserves, filing monitoring reports, documenting and reporting violations or encroachments, and recruiting and supervising volunteer monitors. The Steward will also execute preserve and trail stewardship according to Management Plans and manage contractor activity. Up to 10 hours per week, compensation commensurate with experience. Further details and requirements are available on request. To apply: Send cover letter, resume, and references to info@salisburyassociation.org. The Salisbury Association is an equal opportunity employer.

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To save birds, plant for caterpillars

Fireweed attracts the fabulous hummingbird sphinx moth.

Photo provided by Wild Seed Project

You must figure that, as rough as the cold weather has been for us, it’s worse for wildlife. Here, by the banks of the Housatonic, flocks of dark-eyed juncos, song sparrows, tufted titmice and black-capped chickadees have taken up residence in the boxwood — presumably because of its proximity to the breakfast bar. I no longer have a bird feeder after bears destroyed two versions and simply throw chili-flavored birdseed onto the snow twice a day. The tiny creatures from the boxwood are joined by blue jays, cardinals and a solitary flicker.

These birds will soon enough be nesting, and their babies will require a nonstop diet of caterpillars. This source of soft-bodied protein makes up more than 90 percent of native bird chicks’ diets, with each clutch consuming between 6,000 and 9,000 caterpillars before they fledge. That means we need a lot of caterpillars if we want our bird population to survive.

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Stephanie Haboush Plunkett and the home for American illustration

Stephanie Haboush Plunkett

L. Tomaino
"The field of illustration is very close to my heart"
— Stephanie Plunkett

For more than three decades, Stephanie Haboush Plunkett has worked to elevate illustration as a serious art form. As chief curator and Rockwell Center director at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, she has helped bring national and international attention to an art form long dismissed as merely commercial.

Her commitment to illustration is deeply personal. Plunkett grew up watching her father, Joseph Haboush, an illustrator and graphic designer, work late into the night in his home studio creating art and hand-lettered logos for package designs, toys and licensed-character products for the Walt Disney Co. and other clients.

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Free film screening and talk on end-of-life care
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Provided

Craig Davis, co-founder and board chair of East Mountain House, an end-of-life care facility in Lakeville, will sponsor a March 5 screening of the documentary “Come See Me in the Good Light” at The Moviehouse in Millerton, followed by a discussion with attendees.

The film, which is nominated for best documentary at this year’s Academy Awards, follows the poet Andrea Gibson and their partner Megan Falley as they are suddenly and unimaginably forced to navigate a terminal illness. The free screening invites audiences to gather not just for a film but for reflection on mortality, healing, connection and the ways communities support one another through difficult life transitions.

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