Fill Your Pantry With Local Produce This Summer With These Five CSA Boxes

Farmer Dave’s Dracut-grown produce. / Photo courtesy of Farmer Dave’s

From grass-fed beef to bouquets, these CSA memberships celebrate the best of New England’s bounty—and most will deliver straight to your door.

For Convenience
Farmer Dave’s

A lifelong Massachusetts resident, farmer Dave Dumaresq launched his Dracut farm in 2006; since then, his CSA program has become one of the most robust around, with 18 widely scattered locations for weekly pickups—from Boston all the way up to the New Hampshire border—or home delivery for an extra $10 a week. Pantry need restocking? It’s a cinch to select add-ons such as baked goods from the farm’s own kitchen, specialty beans, or local honey.

978-349-1952, farmerdaves.net.

For dairy
Crescent Ridge

For 88 years, this Sharon farm has delivered award-winning milk throughout the area. But it’s not just an old-school dairy operation resting on its laurels—the company has expanded its offerings to include grass-fed beef and pork raised right in its own pastures. All you have to do is sign up for a subscription online, where you can also add on the acclaimed “Mint Cookies & Cream” or “Coconut Almond Bar” ice cream as the occasional treat. Who are we kidding? You’ll want those as part of your standing order, too.

781-784-2740, crescentridge.com.

For Meat
Walden Local

Carnivores and ketotarians, rejoice! This unique meat share sources grass-fed beef and pasture-raised chicken and pork from the highest-quality farmers throughout New England and New York, then uses a flexible subscription model to bring them right to your door. Everything arrives in a neatly packaged dry-ice bag, your meat labeled with the name of the farmer who raised it. Pro tip: The “Sausage of the Month” (anything from cilantro-chorizo to garlic-and-ginger links) is particularly swoonworthy.

857-277-0773, waldenlocalmeat.com.

Colorful arrangements from Cross Street Flower Farm. / Photo by Jenni Denn

For Flowers
Cross Street Flower Farm

You’ll never settle for grocery-store blooms again. Farmed in Norwell and available at 10 pickup locations from Hingham to Buzzards Bay, the flower shares from Nikki Bartley and Cara Gilmartin deliver serious color, texture, and fragrance (attributes that are often missing from more commercially grown stems, which can be flown in from as far as Ecuador or Kenya). Expect zinnias, snapdragons, sunflowers, and more throughout the eight-week Summer Share—then keep the blossoms going into fall with the four-week Dahlia Share, which starts the week after Labor Day.

781-561-0453, crossstreetflowerfarm.com.

Al FreshCo’s easy-to-prepare pesto gnocchi with roasted rutabaga. / Photo by Laurel Valchuis

For Minimal Meal Prep
Al FreshCo

Ever stood over your weekly CSA box, hopelessly wondering how to find the time—and imagination—to deal with 2 pounds of kohlrabi? Enter Al FreshCo, a local vegetarian meal-kit service that does the work for you. Featuring New England–grown veggies and legumes from farms that never use synthetic fertilizers or pesticides, each box (delivered by bike or available for pickup) includes pre-portioned, prewashed, and chopped ingredients with easy instructions so you can enjoy favorites like lemony tahini-dressed Buddha bowls, Egyptian “kosheri,” and arugula-pesto pasta made from Maine-grown grains in 30 minutes flat (or often less).

617-971-8762, al-freshco.com.