Local farmers' markets are poised to open soon and early summer produce will be here in a matter of weeks, but there's one problem: What if you're anxious about visiting farmers' markets because of COVID-19? Can you still get local produce without venturing out? The answer is yes, and here's how.

First, you should decide whether you'd like a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share or prefer buying produce on an as-needed, ad hoc basis. CSAs are purchased directly from farms, and require a season-long commitment. The produce included in your share will be selected and packed by the farm, and, as a rule, you'll have little say as to what’s included in your weekly (or bi-weekly) box. While this may require a little flexibility with your meal planning, there are some serious benefits to opting into a CSA, including locking in a steady stream of in-season produce; providing CSA farms with upfront revenues, ensuring their sustainability; and knowing who grows your food.

If you know what local produce you like, and want to order exactly that, then a pay-as-you-go, ad hoc model may be the one for you. There will be no chance of mustard greens, rutabagas or garlic scapes finding their way into your produce box--unless, of course, that's what you've ordered.

Finally, there are new blended local produce models that have popped up this season, which combine the variety boxes of CSAs with on-demand purchasing. While these don't deliver the benefits of true CSAs to farmers and their communities, they do offer the flexibility to pay as you go.

There are two standard CSAs currently accepting new customers and delivering to Newton: Heavens Harvest Farm in New Braintree and Sudbury's Siena Farms . Heaven's Harvest, an organic farm, has three different weekly share sizes, and also offers a customized share for a bit more money. Currently, there are a few Heaven's Harvest pick up sites in Newton. Siena's produce is sustainably grown and free of chemical herbicides, pesticides, and synthetic fertilizers. It offers a standard summer produce share, as well as specialty shares, including ones for children, sunflower lovers, and mushroom fans. Siena also has the option of every other week shares, with customers either picking up their produce box at Rancatore's in Newtonville, or, for an additional fee, having the box dropped off at their doorstep.

Want to order your local produce weekly and have it delivered to your doorstep? There are three options in Newton: Brookford Farm, Mass Food Delivery, and What Cheer Fruit & Produce. Of these three, Brookford Farm grows most of the organic produce it sells, while Mass Food Delivery and What Cheer Fruit and Produce aggregate produce from local farms. Brookford Farm is in Canterbury, NH, and its diversified offerings include produce, meats, chicken, eggs, cheese, and fermented vegetables. (For those who long for the surprise of a produce box it also has one of them, too.) It should be noted that most of Brookford's raw dairy products (milk, kefir, yogurt), can not be delivered to Massachusetts. Mass Food Delivery and What Cheer deliver produce grown on local farms, with some farms providing items to both of these aggregator/delivery services. (For example, both companies offer produce from Red Fire Farm and Queens Greens). Mass Food and What Cheer also deliver an eclectic mix of specialty products, again, with some redundancy between the two.

Lilac Hedge Farm and Newton Community Farm both offer local produce for weekly purchase, without the option of choosing the produce. So, it's like getting a CSA share, without a season-long commitment. Lilac Hedge Farm , a livestock farm specializing in pasture-raised meats, selects its produce from a variety of local farms, packs it up, and makes it available for weekly purchase and delivery with a Lilac Hedge order. Newton Community Farm's CSA shares are sold out for this season, but you can still grab some of their very locally grown produce by picking up one of their new Healthy Harvest Bags . Every week you can order a bag of seasonal produce from their online store, and pickup at the farm on Friday afternoon. Each week the farm lists what's included in the bag and its price. This week, the bag is $22 and the contents include: 1/2 lb arugula; 1/2 lb spinach; 1 bunch of radishes; 1 bunch of turnips; 1 head of lettuce and 3 rhubarb stalks.

For those looking forward to shopping at Newton's Farmers' Markets, a lot will change this year (including relocation to Newton South High School), but the same fresh, locally grown produce will still be available. To help protect shoppers and vendors, new procedures are being put in place for visiting the market, which will be shared as soon as they are made available. This season, several local farms and producers are offering new pre-ordering options to make shopping swift and cashless. So far, we've heard that the following farms and vendors will have pre-orders:

You'll notice some changes to www.ALLOverNewton.com over the next week. Walden Local Meat has been removed because of their long wait list, which does not look like it will open up until the end of the year. It appears that Red Fire Farm's Newton CSA is now full, so it has been removed as well. The intent of www.ALLOverNewton.com is to share information about available resources, which means that listings will fluctuate. Also, keep your eye out for Newton restaurants added to the site as they open for business and retail shops.

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Questions? Any other information you'd like captured on ALL Over Newton? Let us know by emailing: lauren@allovernewton.com