Leaf-peeping season hampered by drought: Fall foliage dropping sooner, showing less color

Common Ground: Editor's note

Our distance from the food we eat is clear to see, displayed on grocery store shelves in plastic wrap and styrofoam trays, unblemished apples as large as your first and bucolic snapshots of farm life that only remain true at the smallest scale. “Common Ground” seeks to draw us closer to the local food system. […]

Common Ground: Shepherd dogs, children and parent co-founders make Brookford Farm a family enterprise

At sunrise, Catarina Mahoney straps a leash to shepherd-dog-in-training Rocket and walks him out to a field at Brookford Farm to herd dairy cows. As the day goes on, her husband, Luke Mahoney, drives tractors across fields and heads into town to pick up parts for the next piece of farm equipment that needs maintenance. Fifteen years ago, the couple settled on a piece of land in Canterbury that felt just right. After years of effort and investments in structures, livestock, employees and the new farm store, their daily routine looks similar to that of the past: constant, involved, from daybreak […]

Common Ground: With technological advancements and welfare in mind, 'everybody wins, not just the animals'

As the sun rises and light beams over Brookford Farm in Canterbury, Shade Havens cast shadows across its open pastures. These portable structures, equipped with wheels and a towing hitch, provide shade for animals that need to cool off in the summer heat. Cows, some spotted, others a deep mahogany, dot the field. They retreat […]

Common Ground: For growers and farmworkers, 'these people are my home'

Sadiqi Sadiqi has spent many seasons at Brookford Farm in Canterbury, 10 years in total. He spends his time inside climate-controlled greenhouses caring for seedlings as they germinate under warm air in the cold months. When spring turns to summer and the plants move outdoors, Sadiqi washes eggs and vegetables and weeds crops across the […]

From Iran war to the economy, four key issues in NH’s GOP Senate primary

Republican Senate primary candidates John E. Sununu and Scott Brown are presenting distinct political profiles and records as they compete for the nomination in New Hampshire.