Every autumn, we welcome soups back to our table like dear old friends—those soulful simmers, those deep, restorative bowls.

Jackie Bergman is famous across the Berkshires for her handcrafted soups and front-porch “soup ports.” Her four-year-old company, Farm Country Soup, has a cult following for its creative soup recipes, such as free-range chicken soup seasoned with ginger and sweet potatoes. Since her tiny takeaway store is tucked behind a historic buggy-whip factory in a remote corner of Massachusetts, Bergman delivers soup to her customers, ladling her 50-plus versions at farmers markets and dropping off orders into coolers at honor-system “soup ports”—designated porches or barns of friends in the Berkshires—where they await pickup. Bergman writes about soup making, often inspiring readers to make their own, in Soupnews, a weekly e-mail riddled with reflections on local farms and seasonal ingredients. Hundreds of her fans have forwarded her newsletter (subscribe at farmcountrysoup@aol.com), spawning a soup craze near and far.

To purchase Farm Country Soup, call 866/877-7687 or visit www.farmcountrysoup.com. The soups are also available at specialty foods stores in the Berkshires, northwestern Connecticut, and New York’s Hudson River Valley.