Featured Events, Resources, & Opportunities

Hilltown Mobile Market is back for a 4th season! This year, they are operating an online store of products from 20 Hilltown farmers & producers where you can shop weekly for freshly harvested produce, meat, dairy, eggs & pantry items. Ordering will be packed & delivered to 18 pickup locations throughout the Hilltowns with convenient hours. They are also offering choice-based Farm Shares where you can spend down your balance throughout the season whenever & however it works for you! Share options range from $150 – $500, with a fully reimbursable option for those with SNAP/HIP. The Market will also be offering door delivery for residents at Westhampton Woods, Hamblin Court, Highland Village Circle, Hillside Terrance, Nash Hill, & The Maples.

List of Weekly Suggested Events

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Self-Directed Learning: Nature-Based Math

As you gaze at the base of a pinecone, did you know that you’re regarding an incredible example of mathematical reasoning? Nature’s patterns, as it happens, are deeply rooted in the Fibonacci Sequence and the Golden Ratio. It’s the ultimate in a marriage between the aesthetic beauty of nature and its mathematical base that makes it make sense. To discover what a learning opportunity this is for the family to share, read our post, Nature’s Patterns Reveals Mathematical Reasoning. Also, get curious about patterns that resemble geometric shapes! Through bubbles, basalt columns, and honeycombs, discover the integration of math, physics, and biology in exploring hexagons in nature. And find the hidden mathematics inside the atomic repeating patterns that contribute to the crystalline structures of not only minerals but also sand, DNA, ice, and metals. Learn what causes them to grow into these shapes and the geometric properties of crystals that contribute to this process.

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Self-Directed Learning: Strawberry Season 

To Algonquin tribes, for whom present-day New England was once home, as well as many other Native American Nations, June’s full moon is known as the Full Strawberry Moon. The burst of red berries happens quickly, and the time strawberries are harvested is relatively short compared to many other fruits and vegetables. As a result, June’s moon served as a symbol of strawberry season. Learning these traditional names of the moons and their associated Native American stories will teach us about Native American culture within the lens of the seasons. An experiential way to learn about the strawberry is to pick your own. Western Massachusetts is filled with farms, many of which begin their summer season with PYO berry patches. For young children, picking organic berries on a farm offers experiential learning about agriculture, botany, and ecology (worms, spiders, slugs, etc.). For older children, berry picking provides a chance to learn about farming practices and seasonal foods. Learning how strawberry plants grow can give children an entirely new appreciation for the seasonal nature of the delicious red berries. 

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Self-Directed Learning: Jelly & Jam

When life gives your lemons, make lemonade! But when life gives your strawberries, make jam! Early summer is when homesteaders and curious families either grow or pick the season’s first fruits. For most, that would be strawberries. For homesteaders experimenting with perennial fruit bushes, that might be honeyberries, currants, or gooseberry. Whichever fruit begins your berry season, cooking up preserves can connect us to the season via experiential learning that involves tastes, texture, and a sense of place. Through the lens of preserves, learn about the different types of preserves and regional varieties and the science and history behind preservation.

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Self-Directed Learning: Farmers’ Markets

Farmers’ markets are community builders, the American version of the European plaza, and are intrinsically a part of our New England culture and traditions. They are places that bring a community together in support of local agriculture, healthy food choices, share stories, and connect with neighbors and farmers. They are also great places to learn through the collaborative consumption of knowledge freely shared between farmers and customers. The opportunity to learn at farmers’ markets through intergenerational skill-sharing makes them a highly valued community-based educational resource that brings people together via shared interests. If that’s not enough to convince you about the value of your local farmers’ market, check out this actionable talk by social entrepreneur Mohammad Modarres who shows how to put your purchasing power into action via local farmers’ markets and CSAs. Then pick up the ingredients for your next family dinner, and get curious in the kitchen!

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Self-Directed Learning: Carnivorous Plants

There are many myths and legends around carnivorous plants, and we can find a couple of these plants right here in Western MA! These plants include the corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum) at the Botanic Garden of Smith College and Nepenthes (a.k.a. pitcher plant), where you can find a species at the Hawley Bog. According to the Botanic Garden of Smith College website, “The infamous Amorphophallus titanum first bloomed at the Botanic Garden in 2005, the first of its kind to do so in Massachusetts. Once mature, this plant blooms every 3-5 years. True to predictions, it bloomed again in 2008, four years later in 2012…” and again in 2019! Unlike the corpse flower, the pitcher plant species at the Hawley Bog flowers every year in June, along with several other carnivorous plants, including sundew and bladderwort. One of the best ways to learn about these unique plants is to visit them in their native habitat. The Hawley Bog is an excellent case of an intact New England bog and bog plants flowering in June are easier to spot. Take your field guides, sketchbooks, and cameras and spend some time looking closely at these native species in their natural environment. Get curious about the differences between habitats, asking questions like, “What’s the difference between a bog and wetlands?” “How are bogs formed?” “Why are bogs important ecosystems?” Seek out answers and return next year. Blooming bog flowers are another way to connect us to the season through native species. 

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Self-Directed Learning: Butterflies & Moths 

Much like bees, butterflies play an essential role in our ecosystem. As pollinators, butterflies help ensure that plants exchange genetic material, which we depend on to enjoy many of our favorite foods! However, changes in the way humans live and interact with our surroundings have caused butterfly populations to decline (especially the iconic monarch). Learning about butterflies and their role in our ecosystem can support an understanding and appreciation of our surroundings. Luckily, opportunities for self-directed learning about these beautiful Lepidoptera happen all summer as different species of butterflies visit your home gardens, local parks, and nearby meadows. Paying attention to the different colors and sizes of butterflies, their behavior, plants they visit, the days and times you see them, and participating in a butterfly count are a few ways to connect to the season through butterflies. Keep a butterfly journal where you can take notes and include sketches of butterflies you see and the plants they visit or images you might snap with your phone or camera. Following the changing flora and fauna in your local landscape is a great way to support interests and education while deepening a sense of place.

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Self-Directed Learning: Fireflies

It’s Firefly season! Fireflies, dancing their bioluminescence ballet across the summer evening landscape, mark this time of year. An orchestra made up of frogs, insects, and leaves swaying in the breeze is the backdrop as the sun sets, and these glowing beetle emerge for a brief time every year, lighting up yards, fields, and forests. Take the time to sit quietly in the evening, listen, and watch a spectacular presentation that only nature could orchestrate. Engaging the sense with the natural world helps connect us to the present moment while strengthening a sense of place. The summer enchantment fireflies can bestow on young children brings fantasy and lore into their childhood memories, staying with them as they learn through nature and grow with the seasons. That magic can lead the way towards learning, bridging a sense of place with the sciences through curiosity and discovery.

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Weekly eNewsletter

Online and in-person events and resources shared above are done so as a courtesy and not as an endorsement. While we do our best to share accurate and up-to-date information, please take the time to confirm information, age appropriateness, registration requirements, safety protocols, and associated costs.

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Hilltown Families’ list of Suggested Events is supported in part by grants from the Agawam, Amherst, Becket, Bernardston, Buckland, Chester, Chicopee, Colrain, Cummington, Easthampton, Goshen, Granby, Greenfield, Hadley, Hatfield, Heath, Hinsdale/Peru, Huntington, Leyden, Montgomery, Mount Washington, Northern Berkshire, Orange, Otis, Palmer, Pelham, Rowe, Shelburne, Shutesbury, South Hadley, Tolland, Tyringham, Westhampton, Windsor, and Worthington Cultural Councils, local agencies which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.