seeking davis/porter servicing food shares

[thespian.livejournal.com]

Ok, so now that, in theory, it will be getting warmer and all, I'm looking for a food share/local farmer who does drop offs in the area. I'd like a drop off in Porter or Davis. The household has 2 adults who would be in the farmshare (our other roommate is 22 and eats nothing but pasta).

At this point, I'd like to get an idea what's available; posting an idea what to expect would be great (cost per week, what typically came in a box, if they did anything interesting (in Toronto I got boxes from Foodshare, which included recipes and once gave me the Toronto Vegetarian Society cookbook), if they did anything special/react to their customers (I don't expect to need it, but in Atlanta after a friend broke her foot, her farmshare brought he stuff to her for 6 weeks because the drop spot was half a mile away)).

This has been brought up before here, but that was two years ago, so even just a note saying if any of those comments are still relevant or have changed would be good.

Comments

[sissychrissy1.livejournal.com]

Parker Farm is great. This will be my second year doing the share, and I enjoyed it last year. The farm has a website (http://web.mac.com/parkerfarm/iWeb/Site/csa%20program.html) and an LJ community too (http://community.livejournal.com/parkerfarmcsa/). Stephen is really nice and is as accommodating as he can be. I can't say he would deliver stuff to your door in an emergency but he won't mind if you arrange for someone else to pick it up (which has been done through the LJ community at times too). Last year, I was splitting a small share with a friend, which was plenty for both of us, and we randomly took turns picking it up. He always remembered who we were, and never had problems with us switching off. Additionally, he sends out regular email updates and also takes into consideration the thoughts and opinions of shareholders. Plus, it serves both Davis and Porter (as well as Central), so it would be in your area. Spots in those two areas tend to fill up quickly, so if you're interested, I recommend joing up soon. Hope this information helps!

[chaiya.livejournal.com]

Responding to this post as well, by way of signal boost:

Yes, Parker Farms (http://web.mac.com/parkerfarm/iWeb/Site/csa%20program.html) delivers in Porter Square again this year! Steve Parker is an excellent farmer, and a neat guy to talk with about the way farm life works for him. (His website taste in colors leaves a bit to be desired, perhaps, but we all have our faults.) You can reach him at parkerfarm at mac .com. :)

[thespian.livejournal.com]

to be honest, I looked at that and seriously thought about saying 'look, I'll do a complete redesign of your website in trade if you'll bump us from the small to large box.' The main page being all in images (despite being text) was...surprising, shall we say? ;-)

[chaiya.livejournal.com]

If I were you, I'd go ahead and ask. Sometimes he does barter stuff. :)

[starry83.livejournal.com]

There was actually some recent discussion on the topic of CSAs and Parker Farm here. (http://community.livejournal.com/davis_square/1166939.html)

[thespian.livejournal.com]

bah. I searched for 'farm share', and all I got was the 2-years-ago post. *grumble*

[slinkr.livejournal.com]

Second the recommendations for Parker Farm, which I tried for the first time last year. I got a small share and found it to be plenty for a 2-person household. Steve (the farmer) is not much for recipes, but the community on LJ is pretty helpful with that.

If you check the Boston board on Chowhound, they also had a thread about CSAs in the last day or two, so you can find some recommendations there.

[emcicle.livejournal.com]

i started the post about parker farms recently. i had researched a bunch of CSAs, and many were already full (the one in waltham, one out in ipswitch). Red Fire Farm has space, as did Stone Soup Farm, I think. But we liked the sound of Parker farm the best....

[wallacestreet.livejournal.com]

Have a look at this thread (http://www.chowhound.com/topics/463824), and in particular at the post by chefscotticus near the bottom for a pretty good roundup of local CSA options. You'd better act fast, though, because many fill up right quick.

[pukwudgie.livejournal.com]

I have been getting a share from Red Fire Farm for a few years and am very happy with them in terms of quality, variety, and quantity. They have pick ups in Union and Central Squares and have a bicycle delivery option for certain zip codes this year (tho not to my current Davis Square zip code).

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Just another plug for Parker Farm. Yeah, the website is amateurish but what do you expect -- he's a farmer, not a programmer. Steve works his ass off and we have been very happy with the CSA.