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.

Latest News

Cornwall board approves purchase of two new fire trucks following CVFD recommendation
CVFD reaches fundraising goal for new fire trucks
Provided

CORNWALL — At the recommendation of the Cornwall Volunteer Fire Department, on Jan. 20 the Board of Selectmen voted to move forward with the purchase of two new trucks.

Greenwood Emergency Vehicles, located in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, was chosen as the manufacturer. Of the three bids received, Greenwood was the lowest bidder on the desired mini pumper and a rescue pumper.

Keep ReadingShow less
Robin Lee Roy

FALLS VILLAGE — Robin Lee Roy, 62, of Zephyrhills, Florida, passed away Jan. 14, 2026.

She was a longtime CNA, serving others with compassion for more than 20 years before retiring from Heartland in Florida.

Keep ReadingShow less
Marjorie A. Vreeland

SALISBURY — Marjorie A. Vreeland, 98, passed away peacefully at Noble Horizons, on Jan. 10, 2026.She was surrounded by her two loving children, Richard and Nancy.She was born in Bronxville, New York,on Aug. 9, 1927, to Alice (Meyer) and Joseph Casey, both of whom were deceased by the time she was 14. She attended public schools in the area and graduated from Eastchester High School in Tuckahoe and, in 1946 she graduated from The Wood School of Business in New York City.

At 19 years old, she married Everett W. Vreeland of White Plains, New York and for a few years they lived in Ithaca, New York, where Everett was studying to become a veterinarian at Cornell. After a short stint in Coos Bay, Oregon (Mike couldn’t stand the cloudy, rainy weather!) they moved back east to Middletown, Connecticut for three years where Dr. Vreeland worked for Dr. Pieper’s veterinary practice.In Aug. of 1955, Dr. and Mrs. Vreeland moved to North Kent, Connecticut with their children and started Dr. Vreeland’s Veterinary practice. In Sept. of 1968 Marjorie, or “Mike” as she wished to be called, took a “part-time job” at the South Kent School.She retired from South Kent 23 years later on Sept. 1, 1991.Aside from office help and bookkeeping she was secretary to the Headmaster and also taught Public Speaking and Typing.In other times she worked as an assistant to the Town Clerk in Kent, an office worker and receptionist at Ewald Instruments Corp. and as a volunteer at the Kent Library.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rafael A. Porro

SALISBURY -— Rafael A. Porro, 88, of 4 Undermountain Road, passed away Jan. 6, 2026, at Sharon Hospital. Rafael was born on April 19, 1937 in Camaguey, Cuba the son of Jose Rafael Porro and Clemencia Molina de Porro. He graduated from the Englewood School for Boys in Englewood, New Jersey and attended Columbia University School of General Studies. Rafael retired as a law library clerk from the law firm of Curtis, Mallet Prevost in 2002 and came to live in Salisbury to be nearer to his sister, Chany Wells.

Rafael is survived by his sister, Chany Wells, his nephew Conrad Wells (Gillian), and by numerous cousins in North Carolina, Florida, Wyoming, Arizona, Cuba and Canada. He was the eldest of the cousins and acknowledged family historian. He will be greatly missed.

Keep ReadingShow less