Boston area - Local Meat and Vegetable CSAs

[fitfool]

Three years ago, I posted a list of Boston-area CSAs that I had been researching when looking for one to join. I eventually signed up with Chestnut Farms and Busa Farm and was very happy with both

Comments

[ruthling]

I'll be starting my second year with Enterprise Farm in June. I enjoyed the first year a lot. They do pickups in several boston-area locations, including one in the Kickass Cupcakes in Davis Square. Sadly, I don't actually *like* the cupcakes at Kickass and I only rarely bought anything else there. I kind of felt bad.

[fitfool]

See? Very first comment points out I missed a farm. I just added it to the list. Thanks!

I've never tried Kickass Cupcakes yet. I love the idea of a cupcake store though. I love cakes but rarely make them.

[ruthling]

I've also been with Parker farm (maybe five years total, not continuously). He's basically a one-man operation and I found things to be less professional than I wanted. For people with more tolerance for risk and, to be honest, flakiness, he provides an excellent value for the price most of the time.

[imaginarycircus]

I also do Enterprise year round, but I pick up at Greenward in Cambridge. :D

[tisiphone]

I've gone through Enterprise Farm in the past and have always been very happy with them. Right now I go through Valley Green Feast, which offers produce from Brookfield, Red Fire, and Stone Soup among other Western Mass farms. (Valley Green Feast is amazing, it's a cooperative and they've got a ton of awesome stuff from local producers, but they only deliver in Western Mass.) Red Fire Farm has amazing greens, their kale is outstanding. (Obviously I don't know anything about their delivery operations, since I got through VGF :) But they do have good food!)

[fitfool]

That's nice to have the option of getting stuff from different farms delivered!

[fitfool]

I should add reviews too. I very much liked the flexibility that Busa Farm offered. Since I got to pick out my own veggies, I could load up on favorites like tomatoes, corn, and beans, and just get a little of other vegetables that I didn't like as much. I loved the variety of eggplants and peppers to sample. Since you could also pick-your-own for some of the crops, I also picked up some green tomatoes to make Fried Green Tomatoes which were surprisingly yummy. For a household of just 2 adults who ate out maybe 3-4 meals a week, it got a little challenging to use up our full share (particularly since I did a lot of pick-your-own which was sold at a reduced price). I ended up selling some of my Busa Bucks to a vegetarian friend who said she had blown through her Busa Bucks already and had been buying their veggies at full price

[urbpan]

Thanks so much for this list! Too cheap to get a CSA yet, but several good leads on local meat, much appreciated!

[fitfool]

I was happy to see more options for humanely raised meat too. Please let me know if you find more or want to leave a review.

[88greenthumb]

Nice of you to put this list together and update it. Kudos! CSAs deserve to be promoted and supported! And nothing beats fresh, pesticide free food. We do have some CSAs around here, but haven't tried any of them. I shop at Farmers' Markets often, though, as there are a number within 2-10 miles from my place. And I grow some veggies too

[fitfool]

Yeah...I noticed some of the CSAs had work options too. Once a month sounds easier for arranging pickups but then it seems like it would limit the number of fresh veggies you got from them, wouldn't it?