When we moved to Concord, I first stopped in when I saw a sign that read, “Heirloom Tomato Seedlings – Order Today.” I thought, I’m going to really like this place. After I placed my order, I looked around a bit – cranberry orange scones, chunky applesauce, homemade brownies, crunchy asian noodle salad, real mac n’cheese, chicken pot pies… it was like the Barefoot Contessa cookbooks come to life. Then I thought, I’m going to love this place.
Verrill Farm is less than 2 miles from our house – it is a produce farm, local market, bakery, breakfast spot, lunch spot with delicious prepared foods and local products. If I’m ever at a loss for dinner, I head there for inspiration – or to pick up something already made like a container of roasted tomato basil Bisque, a fresh baguette and two homemade chocolate puddings “To Go.”
I try to shop here on a daily basis instead of the ‘local’ grocery store – that happens to be not so ‘local’ at all. Shopping here everyday encourages me to cook seasonally, locally and fresh(ly?). I find myself branching out and adding kale to our veggie soup, using more fresh herbs and trying different varieties of local cheeses. Surprisingly, shopping here does not cost me more money than if I had been shopping at the regular grocery store. The produce is shockingly less expensive (and much higher quality). Many (in fact, most during the growing seasons) of the the produce boasts the “Our Own” tags like the spinach pictured to the left.
Bread from 4 or 5 different local bakeries… and there is no short supply of Nutella. I haven’t crossed over to the natural and/or organic peanut butter yet – I just can’t do it. I’ve tried. I have to have the added sugar and deliciousness of JIF extra crunchy.
The huge selection of scones might be my favorite thing of all at Verrill… especially the cranberry orange scones. I’ll be attempting to replicate them later this week from KC – because I’m missing them!
