Editors’ Choice
Appleton Farms
Ipswich
Like any great CSA, Appleton Farms’ program offers a bounty of fresh-from-the-field, seasonal produce grown steps from the barn where you pick up your box. What truly elevates this CSA is the custom experience: Shareholders can mix and match their produce choices from the available harvest each week to suit their tastes, and families can take to the bucolic, historic—the farm was established in the 17th century—fields to pick their own strawberries, herbs, and flowers throughout the season.
219 County Rd. (Route 1A), Ipswich, 978-356-5728, thetrustees.org/place/appleton-farms
Readers’ Choice
Cider Hill Farm
Amesbury
This eco-friendly farm makes the CSA experience welcoming and flexible. A weekly email lets you know the contents of your share ahead of pickup so you can start planning your menus, and a swap table lets you trade your head of lettuce for an extra bunch of kale, when available. Best of all, each share comes with a weekly half-gallon of cider.
45 Fern Ave., Amesbury, 978-388-5525, ciderhill.com