Library Partners With Farm for Peabody CSA Program

Peabody residents will have yet another option to purchase fresh produce and other local farm goods this summer and reduce their carbon footprint.

The Peabody Institute Library and the city of Peabody are sponsoring a Community Supported Agriculture program (CSA) with Silverbrook Farm out of Dartmouth.

Before residents sign up for shares in the programs, two information sessions for anyone interested will be held March 6 at the West Branch (4 p.m.) and at the Main Branch (6:30 p.m.).

Adult Services Librarian Kelly Rae Unger explains that in a CSA program, members agree to purchase products from a local farm throughout a season.

"This agreement makes members shareholders of the farm, and each week the farm agrees to deliver the products to the library for shareholder pickup," says Unger in an announcement. The produce is also freshly picked either that same day or the day before.

"A CSA program is a creative way to eat locally and reduce your carbon footprint. In addition, for the duration of the growing season, you know the farmer who grows your fruits and vegetables, and just how your food is produced," she says.

Silverbrook Farm partners with other area farms to provide a diversity of fruits and vegetables for shareholders, including "old favorites" as well as heirloom varieties of fruits and vegetables.

You can also read more about the farm's CSA program here.

To register for either information session, call 978-531-0100 ext. 10 or
go online. You can also contact Unger directly at unger@noblenet.org or 978-531-0100 ext. 17.