North of Boston: farm & local food hub — Local services in Boxford

TL;DR – stop whatever nonsense you are doing right now and go order some produce from these folks. Or head over to their brand-new farm stand!

I expect one thing from a farm stand or farm table: good quality produce. North of Boston delivers in spades (pun absolutely intended). Fantastic squash, beets, carrots, and potatoes (I like the blue ones) Salad greens and other fresh vegetables taste great and keep for twice as long as grocery store produce, because they haven’t sat in a truck or on a shelf for days. Fantastic fresh herbs. Great apples and stone fruit. Sweet corn and heirloom tomatoes are the bomb. Lots of other uncommon vegetables you don’t always see, like bekana lettuce, chocolate peppers and salad turnips (try these!). And it’s GREAT not worrying about what sort of toxic death has been sprayed on my food in order to maximize corporate profit.

Their meat is top shelf too, especially the pastured pork, and most especially the bacon—literally the best bacon I’ve ever had. They also work with lots of local folks to provide local eggs and milk, locally-produced cheese, prepared food like soup, lasagna, and empanadas (order these immediately), and baked goods.

I’ve been a customer of North of Boston for seven years—long before they did home delivery, I found them at the Wilmington farmers market. Then the pandemic hit. Produce was hard to find, the farmers markets all closed, and in summer 2020 no one knew how safe it was to even go to grocery stores. North of Boston stepped up massively, pulling a home-delivery service out of nowhere to bring me fresh fruit and vegetables every week. As the pandemic eased, unlike corporations obsessed with ending work-from-home, North of Boston recognized a positive change when they saw one and have grown this ad-hoc pandemic response into a fantastic home delivery service. They deliver most days to all over the Boston area, right to your door, and they’ll customize your order however you like. You can track your driver too. Ordering through their web site is a snap. If anything’s wrong in your order, customer service is great, because the farmers actually care that you are happy.

On top of all this Jamie and Justin spend significant energy and resources supporting their local community, including those not fortunate enough to be able to afford fresh, locally-grown produce. They are both five-star folks, and so...

People are super friendly. Place is very clean and organized. Not a big store. They sell basic produce and some pretty cool specialty items. Everything is locally sourced in MA from their own farm or others nearby. Some of the speciality items are from Vermont, NH, Maine etc.. everything looks super high quality. You can order online and pick up in store they will even carry out to your car if needed. Again everyone is super nice! If your in the area and needs some items. Stop in. It's always great to buy and help...

Wide variety of produce, meats, cheeses and packaged goods in a clean and bright shop. Home delivery is also available. Staff is super helpful and friendly. Plenty of parking. Was happy to see my fave Pigeon Cove kombucha in a new flavor, as well as their delicious vegan kimchi. Can't wait to make a fresh summer salad with fennel and Roots & Spoon Wine & Tarragon Chioggia Beets which were sourced from North of...