Our Dogma Box includes produce sourced as close to Boston as possible throughout the year. Similar to a CSA, this box is filled with the best organic produce from local and regional farms.

This week’s Dogma Box includes the tasty flavors of asparagus, arugula, and fresh mint!

This week’s Dogma Box contains:

  • Asparagus – Deep Root Organic Coop (Johnson, VT)
  • Tomatoes – Deep Root Organic Coop (Johnson, VT)
  • Arugula – Atlas Farm (S. Deerfield, MA)
  • Collard Greens – Atlas Farm (S. Deerfield, MA)
  • Lettuce – Atlas Farm (S. Deerfield, MA)
  • Mint – Happy Valley Organics (Whately, MA)
  • Empire Apples – Dwight Miller Orchards (E. Dummerston, VT)
  • Onions – Porter Farms (Elba, NY)
  • Potatoes – Nature’s Circle Farm (Houlton, ME)

We hope you enjoy these great local flavors of spring and be sure to check back for more local produce happenings.

Happy Memorial Day! Local veggies are coming in strong this week with red leaf lettuce, kale, collards, and mint from western Massachusetts. Also, get ready for tasty white nectarines, yellow peaches, and donut peaches. Check out the newsletter!

The beginning of spring can be a difficult time for locavores and farmers alike. After eating through several months of root crops, we’re ready for something fresh and green! Luckily for us, the Northeast climate is perfect for growing asparagus, one of the first spring crops to become available.

Asparagus is a pretty cool plant. While many plants grow from a stock, vine, or branch, asparagus spears grow individually right out of the ground. Asparagus plants can set roots and live up to 20 years in one spot, producing edible shoots throughout their entire lifespan. We wish they were in season longer, but they’re only in season locally for the months of May and June each year.

Here at Boston Organics, we’re getting our spring asparagus fill from our good friends Laura and Rick Pedersen of Pedersen Farms in Seneca Castle, NY. Pedersen Farms has been in business for 30 years, growing both organic and conventional crops ranging from asparagus to grain.

We have been delighted to work with Pedersen Farms over the past several years to secure the first asparagus crop.  It isn’t spring until we get a call from the Pedersens telling us the first asparagus harvest is ready!

Many of you will find this fresh asparagus in your box this week. You can also order it by the pound as an add-on for a limited time!

Once you’ve stocked up on these delicious shoots, check out our asparagus recipes and cooking tips.

We hope you enjoy the fresh flavors of spring!

Our Dogma Box includes produce sourced as close to Boston as possible throughout the year. Similar to a CSA, this box is filled with the best organic produce from local and regional farms.

This week’s Dogma Box includes the tasty flavors of asparagus, kale, and fresh oregano!

This week’s Dogma Box contains:

  • Oregano – Happy Valley Organics (Whately, MA)
  • Empire Apples – Dwight Miller Orchards (E. Dummerston, VT)
  • Asparagus- Pedersen Farms (Seneca Castle, NY)
  • Onions – Porter Farms (Elba, NY)
  • Potatoes – Nature’s Circle Farm (Houlton, ME)
  • Chard – Atlas Farm (S. Deerfield, MA)
  • Kale – Atlas Farm (S. Deerfield, MA)
  • Lettuce – Atlas Farm (S. Deerfield, MA)
  • Sunchokes –Deep Root Organic Coop (Johnson, VT)

The start of the local lettuce season means more local produce is soon to follow. Be on the lookout for Massachusetts produce coming your way!

It’s here! It’s here! The local produce season has officially begun. We’re kicking off the season with some delicious veggies from two of our local farm partners, Atlas Farm and Pedersen Farms. Our local produce includes kale, chard, red leaf lettuce, and asparagus!! Get ready for a week of local green deliciousness. Check out the newsletter!

Ever wonder what’s going on behind the scenes to get all that fresh produce to your door? We have a fantastic crew of drivers and warehouse staff who work hard to make sure produce gets to your door in the best condition, as quickly and efficiently as possible.

On a daily basis, our crew members receive all kinds of produce ranging from bananas to beets, then they build production lines, pack boxes, and break it all down, just to do it again the next day. With all that produce and all those people moving around, there is a lot to keep track of. We’re lucky to have Pete, our Warehouse Manager who keeps everything and everyone headed in the right direction.

We had a chance to catch up with this dedicated team member to find out a little about him.

Where are you from?

“I grew up on Cape Cod in Hyannis, Massachusetts.”

How did you get started at Boston Organics and where does your interest in food production and operations stem from?

“Truthfully, I wasn’t that interested in food. I started at Boston Organics in the summer of 2008 because I was working in the mall cutting hair, and I was tired of working odd hours and not enjoying my summer. Boston Organics was looking for a warehouse employee from 6am-2pm – perfect summer hours. It allowed me to work but still enjoy my summer skateboarding and chilling.  It was a good fit because I’ve been working in warehouses on and off throughout my life.”

“I started as a warehouse employee in 2008 and quickly moved up to Head Receiver. I learned a lot about produce storage, handling, and variety from seeing it every day. As I worked I would see areas that could use improvement, and as problems arose I’d fix them even though I wasn’t in charge. That’s just my personality, I like to fix things.”

“At some point in 2009 the Warehouse Manager was traveling. I had been involved in every aspect of the warehouse at that point and stepped up so much that they made me acting Warehouse Manager. A little while after that, Jeff hired me for the position full-time.”

What’s the most important improvement you have made in the warehouse?

“When I started, it took the warehouse crew a long time to finish their production lines. I could see the warehouse wasn’t working as a cohesive group; people were having a hard time working together towards a common goal. In my experience, working in a warehouse is tough; no one gives you encouragement and most people just want to get through the day. I didn’t want that for my workplace.”

“I took it upon myself to make our environment positive. I didn’t want people to wake up and think ‘I don’t want to go to work today’ because that sucks. I worked hard to make the warehouse a positive place and made sure people could work together. Our warehouse crew now works really well together. When I started we were doing 300-400 deliveries a day. It took lines 3 hours to do 90 orders back then, now we are doing 550-650 orders a day and they can do 140 orders in 3 hours. I think it has a lot to do with the environment and being able to work together.”

In your career what’s the wackiest thing you’ve seen?

“I was working at a warehouse in Las Vegas years ago. There was a fork lift operator who was related to owner of the company. This guy was a total mess and terrible at driving the fork lift. I remember he use to stab the forks into boxes when he went to pick something up and he would bang the fork lift around the warehouse, hitting everything. One day he was using it to get a furniture set off of a 30ft stack and managed to completely screw it up and sent the furniture crashing down. After he broke that furniture, I guess they’d had enough and demoted him. The next day they told me to get my lift license and I became the operator after that!”

What’s your favorite thing about working at Boston Organics?

“I enjoy the people I work with, which makes work a lot more fun. I also really like the sense of accomplishment at the end of the week. Each week the company is growing and the warehouse is packing more and more orders with the same amount of people. It feels good to knock out 2600 orders in a week.”

Stay tuned to meet more Boston Organics employees and learn how things are done behind the scenes here at your local produce delivery company!

Our Dogma Box includes produce sourced as close to Boston as possible throughout the year. Similar to a CSA, this box is filled with the best organic produce from local and regional farms.

This week’s Dogma Box includes tasty spring flavors of tomato, cucumber, and fresh basil!

This week’s Dogma Box contains:

  • Basil – Happy Valley Organics (Whately, MA)
  • Empire Apples – Dwight Miller Orchards (E. Dummerston, VT)
  • Parsnips – Blue Ox Farm (Enfield, NH)
  • Radishes – Deep Root Organic Coop (Johnson, VT)
  • Cucumbers – Deep Root Organic Coop (Johnson, VT)
  • Tomatoes – Deep Root Organic Coop (Johnson, VT)
  • Onions – Porter Farms (Elba, NY)
  • Potatoes – Nature’s Circle Farm (Houlton, ME)
  • Rutabaga – Nature’s Circle Farm (Houlton, ME)

We just got word that Atlas Farm’s organic red leaf lettuce is ready for harvest next week!  The start of the local lettuce season means more local produce is soon to follow, be on the lookout for Massachusetts produce coming your way!

We’re on the brink of the local produce season and we couldn’t be more excited to see what starts coming in from our local farm partners in the next few weeks. This week is the launch of our Boston Organics Coloring Book – a free add-on for the littlest fruit and veggie lovers! Other notable add-ons this week include Equal Exchange Love Buzz coffee and dried garbanzo beans from Fiddler’s Green Farm in Maine. Vidalia onions are sweetening up boxes, and we’ve got the first of the season’s apricots in the fruit boxes. Check out the newsletter!

Ever wonder how veggies get from the farm to our big green box? Our brand new coloring book, drawn by our talented Fleet Manager Tom, tells this story in a fun and interactive way! This coloring book is great for all ages, but we think kids between 2 and 10 will have the most fun.

You can get your copy as a free add-on under the “Newsletter” section of our add-on page. To save some time, download it here: Boston Organics Coloring Book.

Have fun and don’t forget to share your masterpiece with us on Facebook and Twitter!

Farmers market season is on the horizon, and we know everyone is excited to see what local farms are bringing in from the fields. While you might feel like you need to drop your Boston Organics account to take advantage of the market, we think there can be a pretty neat symbiotic relationship between our deliveries and the goodies at the farmers market.

We’ve put together some fresh ideas on how to get the best of both worlds!

Change your box type:

  • Change your box type to an all fruit or all vegetable box and pick up the other produce items at your farmers market.
    • Our all fruit box is full of 100% organic fruits, including many that are harder to come by at the farmers market (due to the challenges of growing fruit organically in New England).
    • Our Dogma Box (the local box) is like your very own CSA box delivered to your door!
  • Change your box-type to a smaller box. You will still be able to order our local add-ons, receive fresh organic produce from our growers, and grab your favorite ingredients from the market without having too much food.

Grocery List:

  • Use your order tag as a grocery list. Each delivery comes with an order tag – about the size of a post-it note – on the side of the box.  Take this slip with you to the farmers market to use as reference; that way you won’t end up buying produce you already have.

No-List:

  • Utilize your no-list as a seasonal tool. If you are familiar with your local farmers market, you know they will have certain items you are looking for. Block those items on your no-list for the season, and we will substitute them with items of equal value. This will ensure that you get the best of both!

Hopefully these 3 easy tips will help you navigate the many awesome options for local food this summer!