Boston Organics Blog!

We just caught an article about Equal Exchange/Oke bananas in the Business section of the Boston Globe. Check it out!

We’re psyched to announce that we’re offering two new add-on cheeses from Maine’s Longfellow’s Creamery! These cheeses are handmade in small batches at Second Chance Farm in Avon. Second Chance Farm is Animal Welfare Approved.

Tumbledown Mountain Tomme – A raw milk cheese that is rich, earthy, and buttery! It is great with crackers or bread, but also melts beautifully and makes a wonderful grilled cheese!

Grafton Notch Gouda – A dense aged raw milk cheese.

We love ‘em, try them out!

Boston Organics was certified as Sustainable Business Leader, having completed the Sustainable Business Leader Program (SBLP) – a program of the Sustainable Business Network that provides guidance, support, and technical assistance to facilitate the greening of small and medium-sized businesses.

In order to earn the certification, we completed the rigorous six-step SBLP process and reduced our carbon footprint. Measurable and significant changes were identified and implemented in areas including Energy Efficiency, Water Conservation, Waste Reduction, Transportation Management, Pollution Prevention, and Sustainability Management!

See Jeff Barry accepting our certificate below!

We received this picture of a "modest carrot" from a Boston Organics member last week! This carrot came to us from Wintermoon Farm, in Hadley, MA, and we have some excellent add-on rainbow carrots from them this week!

We’re now offering locally made salsa from Appalachian Naturals! They’re based in Goshen, MA, and they use produce grown by our friends out at Atlas Farm among others!

100% Certified Organic! Sugar-free/Vinegar-free!

Ingredients: Organic tomatoes*, organic onion*, organic jalapeño peppers*, organic cilantro*, Portuguese sea salt, organic lime juice, organic epazote (herb from Mexico). *MA grown!

Available in Medium or Wicked Mild!

Appalachian Naturals hand packs these jars with ripe organic tomatoes, fresh cilantro, lime juice, jalapeños, onion, and a few secret herbs to offer you a piece of New England’s fall harvest.

This is an authentic Latin salsa so you will see that the stems are still on the jalapeños and large chunks of tomato can be found is some jars. In most regions in Mexico salsa is pureed so that it is easily to pour, the idea of making it chunky to be used as a dip (or making it thick using tomato paste) emerged as the recipe traveled across the United States over the past century. For those of you missing the rustic mesquite infused meats and sauces from Boca du Vallaria, Caracas, Tepotzlan, or the Baja Peninsula, crack open a jar of Salsa Veracruz and serve it with some homemade plantain tamales or wood fired mahi mahi tacos!

Enjoy!

People often ask us, “Is Boston Organics a CSA?”

CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) are awesome, but we are not a CSA (at least not in the traditional sense). An important benefit of subscribing to a CSA is that it helps to support local agriculture by working directly with a farm. As a Boston Organics customer you may not have a one on one connection with a single local farm – but you are helping to support and sustain a network of local farms, local suppliers, and local businesses!

I wanted to share my thoughts about some of the other differences when comparing a Boston Organics membership to that of a CSA experience…

One vs. Many Farms
In the strictest sense, a CSA is one farm that is directly selling its produce to its members; nobody is coming in between the grower and the consumer.

On the other hand, Boston Organics works with numerous farms including many in Massachusetts and the North East. We act as an aggregator to deliver a diverse and fresh mix of produce directly to the customer. We offer many different box sizes and mixes of fruit and vegetables to meet your specific needs.

Since we are not limited to sourcing from just one farm, Boston Organics is able to offer a broad selection of produce. We operate year round and supplement our boxes with items from further afield to offer enough diversity to meet your needs. We also offer a wide variety of certified organic fruit, such as fair-trade bananas, that are virtually impossible to produce in New England due to the difficult growing conditions. For the true diehards who only want to eat organic produce sourced as close to Boston as possible, we offer the Dogma Box.

Connection
Nothing beats going directly to the source. In fact many CSAs allow members to work at the farm and pick their own produce. At the same time, there is a big need for people and organizations like Boston Organics to help connect growers and consumers via the wholesale channel. Red Tomato founder, Michael Rozyne, explains in his blog that only 5% of the food is sold directly from the producer to the end-user. This highlights both the opportunity for more direct marketing, but it also indicates that there will probably always be a need for intermediaries. As an intermediary, we try our best to communicate what is going on out in the fields with our customers via our weekly newsletters and website.

Risk/Payment/Commitment
Most CSAs require payment up front for the entire season, or at least a portion of it. Paying in advance allows farms to have access to cash while avoiding costly loans to pay for seeds, labor, and other necessary expenditures at the beginning of the season – long before any revenues are generated.

By paying in advance, the CSA member is taking on some risk. If there is crop failure for whatever reason, the contents of the members’ shares will be reduced. From most accounts though, the opposite seems to be the case; there is usually too much food! With crazy New England weather, there are usually some set-backs, but a good CSA always seems to find a way to balance things out by the end of the season.

As a Boston Organics customer, we guarantee that you will get a consistent value. In an effort to minimize the risk to our growers, we work closely with them over the winter and spring. During the pre-season we provide informal commitments and estimates to help with their planning. In some cases we have pre-paid for crops months in advance. It is a win-win situation as it not only provides the grower with a reliable source of revenue, it also provides Boston Organics with a reliable source of local produce!

As a Boston Organics customer you pay as you go – you do not need to pre-pay or commit for any period of time. There is no initiation/membership/application fee. If you go on vacation or need to skip a delivery, just let us know 48 hours ahead of time and you won’t be charged. If you are not satisfied with the service, you can discontinue it!

From all of us at Boston Organics including our network of growers and suppliers, we thank you for your support.

We have limited quantities of add-on organic popcorn kernels from the Merck Forest and Farmland Center in Rupert, VT! You can find them in Snacks and Specialties portion of the add-on order form. The kernels are from two different varieties. One is a yellow Robust variety that is know for its great eating quality – crisp and tender, light and flaky… And a white variety known as the Pennsylvania Dutch Butter Flavored. The Pennsylvania Dutch Butter Flavored is a pre-1885 heirloom variety that originated in Pennsylvania Dutch country.

If you order some kernels, here’s a simple way to make popcorn for 2-4 people:

1) Add a small amount of oil to a pan and add 1/4 – 1/3 of a cup of kernels.
2) With the lid on, shake the pan over the stovetop on medium heat and continue as the kernels pop.
3) Remove from heat when popping has slowed to a few seconds between pops and serve with butter, salt, etc.

Local Watermelon Radishes from Wintermoon Farm in Hadley, MA, have arrived! We’ve included them in a bunch of the boxes this week. They are peppery, mild, and delicious! Enjoy!

Boston Organics is a member of the Sustainable Business Network of Boston (SBN). SBN is joining Cambridge Local First and Somerville Local First to raise funds to donate to Oxfam America, Grassroots International, World Vision, and Partners in Health. Through our network of local, independent businesses we hope to raise $100,000 by the end of February.

To help reach that goal, Boston Organics will match the first $2,000 in customer donations. You can purchase a $5 DONATION add-on via our add-on ordering page.

We appreciate your support!

The ordering deadline has passed.

February is here and so are our Valentine’s Day add-on specials!

We’re offering two different add-on packages from the Dough Raise Me Baking Company for produce boxes delivered 2/9-2/12!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

ORGANIC HEART SHAPED SUGAR COOKIES: $6

10 Heart Shaped Sugar Cookies: These delicious organic sugar cookies make the perfect snack and are covered in naturally colored sprinkles!

THE ORGANIC ASSORTMENT: $15

This package includes the following cookies delivered in a wooden berry box with a bow and red tissue paper (made from mulberry blend fibers)!

2 Chocolate Chunk Brownies: These brownies rock! We can’t get enough of this dark and fudgy brownie loaded with chunks of stone ground Taza chocolate.

5 Heart Shaped Sugar Cookies!

2 Aztec Sables: An intensely rich and delicious sabel with a Mexican twist. Guajillo chilis and Taza’s Mexicano chocolate add heat and a little bit of magic to these fantastic cookies!

2 Valentine’s Day Cowboy Cookies: An oatmeal cookie filled with coconut, dried cranberries, and chunks of Taza Chocolate. Crisp on the edges, chewy in the center!