Roxbury Farm

I am a CSA member at the 114^th St pick-​up. It’s a little tough to pick up your volunteer shifts and get over to there before 6 pm sometimes to pick up if you have a day job, but I imagine 6 is pretty late for ppl who work on a farm. Anyway, it’s only once a week! So just take turns with your roommate picking up or just leave work a smidge early that day.
Anyway– The veg and ppl are awesome! I cook more, brown bag more, and eat more veggies (obvi). Instead of thinking about food shopping and what to cook and buy, I play the game of trying to use everything up before the next pick up. It’s economical, too — and yummy. The amount of food is around $ 40 worth, but it’s all organic so figure more like $ 75 ish worth of food for about $ 25/​week. the farmers are happy, I’m all healthy and seasonal and local and stuff. It’s cool all around. You get a mix of farmer’s market quality stuff for way less money and hassle.

Biodynamic is not just a west coast thing with Roxbury Farms. When I’m up in Hudson I shoot out for the best veggies around. I’ve considered signing up for their CSA, despite my own lush backyard garden.
I seek out Roxbury Farms at the Farmer’s market too. What can be better for you than farm fresh vegetables without the chemicals?

I’ve been a member for at least 7 years and cannot say how pleased I have always been! Even during ‘bad crop’ years I have been more than thrilled with the quality, communication, selection etc. Jean-​Paul, Jody and the rest of the team are amazing.

Roxbury Farm is amazing.
Shortly after I moved to the Captial Region ThinkAnd D. told me about this great little farm called Roxbury that he thought I would really enjoy. He is one of the few people whose taste I trust without reservation. So I immediately went to their website to try and subscribe to the CSA.
Unfortunately I was too early. I marked the date when perspective members could apply for a share, and on that day I went back to the site. As it turned out the farm wasn’t quite ready yet, and suggested I check back in a few days.
The tragedy was that when I finally returned, all the open slots had already been filled.
So I had to wait another year, and even then I was only able to get a share at a less than convenient site. It was only this past season that I finally was able to become a member at the drop-​off site nearest to my home.
With two years under my belt, I have seen bounty and I have seen loss. That’s part of the CSA model. Your fate is tied to the farms. What you get is at the mercy of the weather.
From that perspective 2011 was brutal. An early hail pushed off the start of the season. And even after a hurricane that flooded the creek and destroyed a massive amount of the farm’s crops, they miraculously continued to deliver amazing vegetables (you can see the photo above for yourself). It was the subsequent tropical storm that really was devastating.
The season had to end a few weeks early, and winter storage crops had to be used to prolong the deliveries for as long as possible.
Even with these losses, my love for this farm is undiminished.
Their biodynamic produce is delicious. The best corn is corn that has just been picked. I love the flood of tomatoes, red peppers and cucumbers at the height of summer. They combine naturally in a panzanella salad that requires no cooking just at the time of year when you don’t want to turn on your stove.
Winter out here is long. When summer rolls around, it should be celebrated. And there is no better way of celebrating it than eating freshly harvested produce that was grown nearby.
I can’t say enough good things about this farm. I can just thank them for all their hard work and happily keep subscribing to their CSA.

This will be my fourth season. I even chose my new apartment location based on Roxbury Farm pickup. I’m totally sold.
Jean-​Paul and Jody are really upstanding individuals. I am proud to support them, their way of life, and their way of interacting with the land.
They really do strive to improve their farming practices every year, and to learn from their mistakes. The variety is good, the communication between farmers and shareholders is good, the quality of the food is good. The price is very reasonable for what they supply (cheaper than buying organic in a grocery store, more expensive than iceberg lettuce at C-​Town). Nothing to complain about. Make the switch to CSA living, if you haven’t already!

First off, let me make it clear that I am not, nor have ever been, a hippie. I hate granola and retch at the faintest scent of patchouli. When I see a sitar, I reach for my gun.* But I love, love, love cooking and eating well. And I love love love supporting alternative community endeavors.
Roxbury Farm falls under the rubric of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). For those not familiar with CSAs, for an annual fee one essentially becomes a ‘shareholder’ in a farm for the duration of a growing season, receiving a portion of the farm’s output on a weekly basis. We’re very fortunate in this area because there’s quite a few CSAs to choose from. Roxbury, though, is one of the oldest in the nation, has standards that go far beyond the government’s definition of acceptable ‘organic’ farming standards, and is socially conscious, delivering free food to local pantries. Their weekly newsletter displays a pragmatic sensitivity to regional issues that I rarely see around this area.
Roxbury’s weekly share is geared for a family of three, and they’ve got dozens of drop-​off points scattered about the immediate area, making pickup very convenient. For example, the distance to my drop-​off location is a short bike ride away (but there’s so much food that the trip really demands a car). Most of the produce is what you’d expect from this region, but the quality is vastly superior, and every once in a while you’ll get something relatively surprising, like bok choy, garlic scapes, or some unusual pepper or green not available in local supermarkets. In terms of quantity, I can say that we’ve never finished off a weekly order without freezing or preserving some of it.
It’s a little pricey, but well worth it, especially if you’ve got a freezer or know canning. You’ll have great vegetables (and fruit and meat, if you like) all year. And, you’ll know that you’re supporting local farmers. For more info, check out their website at
. And please note that this season (2007) is filled. You’ll have to wait until the beginning of the coming year to join.
* I own a staple gun.