Farm Partners
It is important to us to support other local farms and farmers. We do this both through strategic partnerships as well as through informal resource sharing and promotion. We have several formal partnerships with area farms in which we purchase from them directly and include their products in our CSA share offerings. This includes sourcing sweet corn from Verrill Farm (Concord, MA), potatoes and winter squash from Picadilly Farm (Winchester, NH), and fruit for our Apple Shares and Winter Shares from Autumn Hills Orchard (Groton, MA). We also serve as a distribution site for independently run cooperatives, including Chestnut Farms meat CSA, The Honey Farm honey CSA and Turtle Creek Winery wine share. Additionally, we made it a point to have information posted detailing nearby farmers' markets, farm stands and pick-your-own operations. Our newest farm partnerships offer our shareholders the chance to purchase cheeses from Westfield Farm, Smith's Country Cheese in MA, as well as maple syrup from Wilman Gadwah, a small-scale producer in Bethlehem, New Hampshire.
Verrill Farm
Verrill Farm is in Concord, MA and operates one of the State's first Integrated Pest Management farms. If you've never checked out their farm stand, you're missing out on the opportunity to buy products from many local farms, take-out food made on the premises, and Verrill's own produce. Verrill Farm also hosts lots of family-friendly festivals.
Picadilly Farm
Picadilly Farm is located the southwestern corner in Winchester, New Hampshire and run by Bruce and Jenny Wooster. Jenny worked for Waltham Fields Community Farm in 2001, and is happy to be collaborating with us in growing great vegetables using sustainable practices to meet the food needs of New England residents. In the interest of the local community and economy, Bruce and Jenny welcome visitors and are happy to talk with you and show you what they do! They also run their own CSA with many distributions in the Boston area.
Autumn Hills Orchard
If you're not signed up for one of our apple shares from Autumn Hills Orchard, or even if you are - nothing beats picking your own. Autumn Hills is located in Groton, MA and it opens to the public for pick your own fruits in September. They grow over 20 varieties of apples, two varieties of pears, plums and raspberries, available for u-pick.
Chestnut Farms
Chestnut Farms is located in Hardwick, MA. They raise cows, pigs, goats, sheep, chickens and turkeys using humane practices that demonstrate a better solution than the commercial, feed-lot, hormone-laden, mass production of animals that has become par for the course in bringing our meat to our tables these days. Chestnut Farms welcomes visitors to their farm from 9:30am - 12pm the first Saturday of the month.
The Honey Farm (THF)
The Honey Farm was started recently by one of our vegetable CSA distribution coordinators, Natasha Hawke. Nastasha's goal for the THF is to cultivate and distribute local honey, as well as to provide education about bees and honey to the public. Natasha was thrilled to advertise her honey CSA to Waltham Field's shareholders and use the farm as a distribution site, similar to Chesnut Farms. THF is a project of Kaleidoscope Education, Inc., a non-profit charitable corporation. You can contact Natasha for information about share availability and hive tours at natasha [at] drum.org. If you are interested in buying fresh, local milk, Natasha also helps to coordinate the Waltham Fresh Milk Club.
Turtle Creek Winery
The award-winning Turtle Creek Winery is located in Lincoln, MA. They are a small vineyard, producing only nine hundred cases of hand-crafted wine annually, including Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir, and Riesling. Their wine can be ordered directly from their website or purchased at these specialty stores in the Boston area.
