The farmers we buy from are like family to us. People we know, trust and visit often! Before we buy a single piece of produce, we make many trips to their fields to get an up-close, personal view of their crops and observe their growing methods. The most important criteria to us in choosing a farm is not whether they are certified organic (small farms often cannot afford the fees to obtain a certified USDA label), but that they practice organic sustainable farming without the use of pesticides. Here’s a list of the farms we buy from and why they make our go-to list for veggies:

 

Four Star Farms, Northfield,  Our go-to source for local wheat (when we first visited we met all the members of this family-run farm, so sweet! Can’t wait to return to cook with the family…)

Narragansett Creamery, Providence, RI, Ricotta with super creamy texture, yum! We toured the creamery in lab coats and hairnets—never a dull day at Nella.

Spring Brook Farm, Littleton, A very friendly farmer’s market neighbor of ours with both summer and winter squash, eggplant, peppers, garlic, you name it… (Ever tried one of our samples of filling? We serve it on their delicious Sunny Sunflower bread)

Allendale Farm, Brookline, known for their bumper broccoli crop and we love the nutritious crunch it adds to our Broccoli, Feta and Toasted Cashew Ravioli.

Stillman’s Farm, New Braintree, first used their beets to color our fettuccine a vibrant shade of magenta. Ever notice the “Nella Pink” in our logo? Always thinkin’ …

Brookwood Community Farm, Milton, always stocked to the brim and conveniently en route to our shared kitchen.

Busa Farm, Lexington, a fellow Lexington Farmer’s Market neighbor who’s always up for some good old-fashioned bartering!