Shares in Eastern Massachusetts
**Our 2013 shares are now available! Scroll to the bottom of this page for a link to the on-line form, or use the link on the left for a printable, mail-in form.
Jenny and Bruce have farming roots in eastern Massachusetts, and though located in southwest New Hampshire now, we stay connected by delivering a portion of the farm’s CSA shares to the Boston area.
Our pre-boxed shares are available at pick-up places on Tuesdays in Belmont Hill, Watertown, Newton (note, pick up here begins at 4pm, a change for 2013), central Arlington, North Cambridge and Winchester (note, pick up here until 6pm only). Thursday share pick ups are in Arlington Heights, east Arlington, Winchester, North Reading, central Belmont and Bedford. Share pick up times are 2-9 pm (except Tuesdays in Winchester 2-6pm, and Newton 4-9pm), and the duration of our harvest season is generally twenty-three weeks – early June through mid-November. The 2013 share cost is $650 for sign-ups until January 30th, $670 after January 30th.
Our pre-boxed share contains about nine to eleven different items each week, and comes in a ¾ bushel waxed box. Picadilly shares are designed for one household, and feed 2-4 people on average. The entire share is grown on our family farm, and is certified organic. The harvest changes as the season progresses, from tender spring greens, sweet strawberries and crisp carrots; to mouth-watering summer melons and tomatoes; to crisp autumn broccoli and sweet roots and squash. We take special attention in our planning to grow an abundance of the “basics” all season long, with a well-varied smattering of less common crops. Though the New England harvest season typically rises to a brilliant crescendo in the late summer and fall, we plant our fields with a view toward a steady season-long harvest, and a consistent share size, all season long. Every fall, we take the opportunity to reflect on the year’s lessons, including feedback from shareholder surveys, so as to then tweak our growing plans for the coming season.
On the morning of share pick-up days, we email a weekly newsletter to shareholders, listing and describing what is in the share. We include farm news, recipes, and ideas for using the less common veggies in the share.
Though the farm is about two hours from the Boston area, we do invite all shareholders to visit the farm, enjoy the Pick-Your-Own garden, and to join us for farm potlucks and harvest days. Just watch the weekly newsletters for details. Because we know that most shareholders aren’t able to visit the farm very often, we include some of the typical Pick-Your-Own crops in the pre-boxed shares, including strawberries, cherry tomatoes, herbs, peas and green beans. Eastern Massachusetts shareholders are always welcome to harvest extra when they do visit the farm.
Here is a sampling of what our share boxes contained in 2011.
June 21st: Strawberries (a quart), sugar snap peas (a pint), green butterhead lettuce, red leaf lettuce, spinach (one pound), a bunch of arugula, dill, beet greens, salad turnips, green scallions.
July 19th: Basil, summer squash and zucchini (2 pounds), radicchio, one green pepper, a bunch of carrots, a bunch of chard, four cucumbers, baby leeks, green beans (a pound), two heads of lettuce (red leaf and “red tide), a bunch of daikon radishes.
August 16th: Asian eggplant (2 pieces), edamame (one quart), green leaf lettuce, sweet corn (8 ears), tomatoes (3 pounds), “saladette” tomatoes (one quart), green cabbage, one cucumber, patty pan squash and zucchini (1.5 pounds), scallions, parsley, two sweet onions, new red potatoes (three pounds), two heads of garlic.
September 22nd: “Delicata” winter squash, a red watermelon, a cantaloupe, three heads of broccoli, green kale, green beans (1/2 pound), carrots (1.5 pounds), three sweet red peppers, three heads of garlic, a bunch of “Black Spanish” radishes.
October 13th: Butternut squash, sweet potatoes (3 pounds), gold potatoes (3 pounds), celery, bok choy, leeks, four sweet peppers, a bunch of salad turnips.
November 15th: Shallots (one quart), yellow and red onions (2.5 pounds), sweet potatoes (4 pounds), carrots (3 pounds), parsnips (1 pound), beets and turnips (1.5 pounds each), green cabbage, a bunch of collards, red & green leaf lettuce (half a pound), winter radishes.
More questions?? Please call or email us, and we’re happy to give you more information.
Sign-Up link: Shares in Eastern Massachusetts
