Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Guide

COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE is a partnership between a farm and its supporters. Prior to the start of a growing season, members/supporters purchase a share of the season’s harvest and receive boxes on a scheduled basis.

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Through this supportive partnership, members assume the costs, risks and benefits of growing local food alongside the farmer or grower. Members’ fees help pay for seeds, fertilizer, water, equipment maintenance, labor and more. In return, the farm provides—to the best of its ability—a healthy supply of seasonal fresh food throughout the growing season.

Joining a CSA—whether it’s with a farm for vegetables or meat, a fishing cooperative, flower grower, baker or even a farm aggregator—creates a responsible relationship between people and the food they eat, the land on which it’s grown and the people who grow it. There are many types of CSA and membership programs to choose from; pick what’s right for you!

Note to CSA farms in Greater Boston and Southern New England:
Would you like to join this guide? Drop us a note and we can add you! info@edibleboston.com

Featured

Waltham Fields Community Farm

Waltham Fields Community Farm (WFCF) is entering our 30th season of farming! Our mission is to cultivate sustainable and equitable relationships between people, their food supply, and the land from which it grows.

From June–October, enjoy a weekly or bi-weekly vegetable share. We offer flexible pick up days, a choice based system for picking your produce, and Pick Your Own crops, including herbs, tomatoes, beans, and chili peppers. In addition to our own produce shares, we offer flower shares, fruit shares, and mushroom shares, all available for pick up at our Farm Stand in Waltham. Subsidized and SNAP shares are available.

Our Farm Stand offers seasonal produce and locally sourced products.

For questions email ana@communityfarms.org

Eastie Farm CSA

Eastie Farm is a community-based non-profit that pursues climate justice, food security, and community resilience through urban agriculture, education, and the building of an equitable local food system. Our CSA brings local, healthy food to East Boston, a food desert. Our shares contain 10-20 pounds of produce, eggs, and specialty items from over 50 local farms. We have 3 pickup days, 2 locations, and a tiered pricing system to make our CSA accessible to all.

Stillman’s Farm

We are a strong farm family with an even stronger commitment to our land and everything it produces. It is our commitment to the land and all it offers that inspires us to grow the glorious bounty we share with our customers. We take great pride in growing the freshest, most beautiful fruits, vegetables and amazing plants. Enjoy weekly or biweekly offerings, or choose our 100% customizable A La Carte CSA; all CSA offerings include a weekly letter, recipes, and anecdotes from the farmer.

Boston, Jamaica Plain, Watertown, Newton, Wellesley, Westboro, Framingham, Cambridge, Brookline...Worcester, Central Mass

We participate in the State SNAP program for CSA.

We offer Spring, Summer, A La Carte, Fruit and Tomato CSA shares.

Land’s Sake

Land’s Sake Farm is a nonprofit community farm in Weston, founded in 1980 and dedicated to building meaningful connections between people, the food they eat, and the land. We run a ~20-acre diversified vegetable operation, CSA, farmstand, and food donation program, and host an array of educational programs year-round.

Land's Sake offers a variety of seasonal vegetable shares that include pick-your-own options, like beans, tomatoes, herbs, and flowers. Our 21-week CSA runs June-October, and includes Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday pickup options. We offer full and small shares, as well as "back to school" shares which begin in August. A substantial winter share is available as a stand-alone, or as an add-on to other CSA shares.

Cordelia’s Farm

Cordelia’s Farm is a working family farm located in Berlin, Massachusetts. The Farm has been home to our family for 7 generations, and we have been farming here since the 1830s. We specialize in the production of small fruit and vegetables, including blueberries, strawberries and raspberries, as well as corn, tomatoes and a large assortment of other vegetables.

A CSA Membership Card contains the value of your share. You can use your Membership Card to purchase any product the farm sells (similar to how a gift card works). Simply shop normally and use your card when you check out at the register.

Lex Farm

Lexington Community Farm is a nonprofit certified-organic farm, connecting and educating the community about locally grown food and sustainable farming practices, providing fresh produce to all, including those in need.

We grow vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers for year-round CSAs, our farmstand and hunger relief programs. We partner with other local farms, allowing us to offer fruit, mushrooms, eggs and additional varieties of vegetables. Subsidized CSA shares are also available. For questions, email farmstand@lexfarm.org

Farms of The Trustees

As Massachusetts’ largest preservation and conservation nonprofit, The Trustees cares for more than 120 special places—nearly 27,000 acres—all around Massachusetts. In addition to being the largest private owner of farmland in the state, we operate multiple production farms where visitors can learn about the land and the natural cycles we depend on, share experiences, and enjoy farm fresh products. These farms, Appleton Farms in Ipswich, Chestnut Hill Farm in Southborough, Moose Hill Farm in Sharon, Powisset Farm in Dover, and Weir River Farm in Hingham, are also where you will find our vegetable and meat CSA programs. The vegetable CSA features 20 weeks of weekly or bi-weekly pick-ups of 100% organic vegetables, June through October, while the seasonal meat CSA features grass-fed beef and lamb as well as pasture-raised pork and chicken, throughout the year.

Stone Soup Farm

Stone Soup Farm is a small veggie CSA on the banks of the Connecticut River in Hadley, MA. We've been delivering super fresh organic farm shares to Cambridge, Boston, and Jamaica Plain since 2007. Our summer farm share program runs for 20 weeks from June to October, and covers the full spectrum of Northeast veggies from Arugula to Zucchini with a few dozen stops in between. We care deeply about our soil, our community and everyone who works the land with us. We offer low-income farm share discounts, and about one third of everything we grow is given away for free to those in need through free farm shares and local food pantries. Email stonesoupfarm@gmail.com for more info any time.

Rattle Root Farm

Rattle Root Farm is a one acre, no-till, hand-scale farm situated a stone’s throw from Mt. Wachusett in Princeton, MA. We grow beyond-organic vegetables, herbs and flowers for our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), wholesale, and farmer’s markets.

Wilson Farm

With a Wilson Farm CSA share, you're supporting a 5th-generation, family-owned, local farm. In exchange for your investment, you'll receive a diverse basket with any of the 100+ crops we grow annually. Shares change from week to week, empowering you to strengthen your knowledge seasonal cooking and eating. And we'll be with you every step of the way, with cooking tips, recipes, inside farming knowledge, and much more.

Farmers To You

With Farmers To You, you can enjoy a customizable, one-stop-shop CSA tailored to your unique, individual needs.

Farmers To You delivers:

-Fresh produce, meats, eggs and small-batch pantry items from a variety of farms.

-The choice of home delivery or pick up at one of our 17 neighborhood pickup sites.

-The option to shop our website each week and add to your CSA share.

Wrong Direction Farm

At Wrong Direction Farm, we choose to take a different path. We aren’t chasing bigger and better. We simply want to produce great food in a way that treats our land, our animals, our family and our customers with respect.

Enjoy Certified Organic, Pasture Raised Chicken and Turkey, as well as Grass Fed, Grass Finished Beef delivered to your home anywhere in Massachusetts.

Red Fire Farm

Cook with Us This Season!

Red Fire Farm produces a wide diversity of vegetables, flowers, fruit and a high quality selection of vegetable and bedding plant flowers for your home garden in the spring. We have tons of gorgeous share options to get local food to you directly, when it is fresh and highly nutritious. Explore and find what you need!

Call us at 413.467.7645 or email thefarmers@redfirefarm.com with any questions!

Warner Farm CSA

Warner Farm is a 10th-generation family farm in Sunderland, MA offering fully-customizable CSA shares. For 20 weeks starting in June, build the contents of your box, round it out with extras and add-on shares, and pick it up from one of 5 sites in Western MA and the Greater Boston Area.

Family Dinner

Family Dinner is a local farmer's market delivery service. Each week we source the highest quality local meat, fish, produce and grains and deliver right to your door! We are flexible, and can accommodate any dietary restrictions or allergies.

Sign up and use code EDIBLE for 50% off your first share!

Allandale Farm

Allandale Farm CSA offers shares of their own produce for 20 weeks beginning in June for pick-up on the farm in Jamaica Plain. CSA members also receive 10% off store purchases on their pick-up day and a weekly newsletter. Allandale offers subsidized CSA shares to increase accessibility and FarmBucks for those who want more flexibility.

Chestnut Farms

Chestnut Farms is a family owned and operated livestock farm raising grass-fed and finished beef, pastured pork, lamb and poultry. Our share cycles run for six months at a time: December–May and June–November.

Each month shareholders receive a mix of beef, pork and poultry in approximately one- to two-pound cryo-vacuumed packages. Pick-up at various locations around Greater Boston and in Central Mass.

Verrill Farm CSA

The Verrill Farm CSA program offers 3 different CSA share options: “Speedy,” a pre-packed share for fast pick-up; “Full Share,” a market-style pick-out-your-own for 20 weeks; and “BiWeekly,” better for couples or small families. Join and enjoy fresh, high quality produce always grown in our fields in Concord & Sudbury.

11 Wheeler Road, Concord
978.369.4494

Siena Farms

Siena Farms offers various CSA programs: Single Season, Multi-Season, Flex (custom schedule) and Specialty Shares.

We’re a 16-year-old family farm, cultivating 50 acres of protected farmland in Sudbury and Concord. We grow over 100 varieties of vegetables using regenerative, biological agricultural practices to build our soil’s health and productivity, free of chemical herbicides, pesticides, and synthetic fertilizers.

Ward’s Berry Farm

Farmer's Choice Boxes, Ward’s own CSA, is available year round. Each week farmer Jim Ward selects a variety of local produce (most of which is picked fresh right here on our farm in Sharon) and an approximate list of the contents of that week's box is posted on our website. Shareholders receive fresh, bountiful local produce and play an active role in supporting their community food system.

North of Boston

North of Boston leverages nearly 350 years of family farming experience to grow and raise the highest quality food. From heritage-breed pork and beef, to some of the finest tasting heirloom vegetables and fruits, we work hard every day to provide compelling and delicious food. Additionally, we work to broaden our offerings by sourcing from local farmers and cooperatives we know and trust—some of whom have been farming alongside our family for over three centuries. Here at North of Boston, we grow non-GMO crops, and we never use poisons to control pests or weeds.

Our guarantee is simple: If our food isn’t the best you’ve ever had, simply let us know and we’ll make it right.

Walden Local Meat

For people who want to cook and eat LOCALLY, NUTRITIOUSLY AND SUSTAINABLY, Walden Local Meat is MAKING LOCAL WORK…right here in New England and New York.

We produce the highest quality supply of 100% grass-fed beef and other pasture-raised meat including chicken, pork and lamb from nearby highly principled farms.

By partnering with SMALL INDUSTRIOUS FARMERS instead of industrial factory farms, we are REINVIGORATING our local agricultural economy, in support of healthier and happier animals, people and communities.

Brookwood Community Farm

Brookwood Community Farm, founded in 2006, is mission driven, grows organically on two properties in Canton MA, runs a CSA concurrently with a farm stand and sales at a farmers market along with donating 5 days per week fresh food to local hunger relief organizations. The CSA runs for 6 months, can be broken into seasons of choice and half shares along with add-ons shares of fruit, eggs and flowers.

Pickups are at the farm in the beautiful Blue Hills Reservation at DCR's Brookwood Farm. We use a choice CSA model that includes pick your own for herbs and items like cherry tomatoes, peas and husk cherries.

All the details are on our website including online purchasing. See how we make shares more accessible and consider utilizing SNAP/HIP benefits for a share.

Harvey’s Farm

Harvey's Farm offers a 16-week CSA program from Mid-June through September as well as weekly CSA Samplers throughout the growing season.

We're a sixth generation farm, garden center and gift barn located in the heart of Westborough, owned and operated by father-daughter duo Jim and Emily Harvey.

Our fruits, vegetables and herbs are naturally-grown on our almost fifty acre farm and are grown sustainably amongst eight acres of solar panels.

Clark Farm

Clark Farm, located in Carlisle, MA, has been home to agricultural production since the 1700s.

We produce certified organic vegetables and berries, as well as pasture-raised lamb, goat, pork and eggs for our CSA community, farm stand and local restaurants.

We offer a variety of CSA shares from April through December.

Earthlands Farm

Earthlands Farm is a woman-owned farm practicing sustainable agriculture, nestled on 80 acres of picturesque forests of the Quabbin Reservoir about an hour west of the Boston area.

We are currently working on our organic certification, and we use regenerative agricultural practices to build our soil’s health and fertility, free of chemical herbicides, pesticides, and synthetic fertilizers.

We are proud to be developing partnerships with many of the best markets and restaurants in the Boston area as well as donating nutritious food to soup kitchens and non-profits (check out our angel box program!)