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Spiral Gardens Community Food Security Project is a non-profit dedicated to urban greening, organic farming, and food security. The organization sells food plants and herbs at its nursery, has turned two vacant city lots into a thriving community garden, and hires local students to staff its produce stand. Founder Lauren educates about the healing powers of her broths Berkeley has three year-round farmers’ markets, so if you aren’t around on a Saturday, you have two more opportunities to experience “fresh & local” at its best: Marla Felcher writes the blog Good News from the Resistance. She currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Cambridge Community Foundation and  Road Scholar, a non-profit educational travel organization, which gives her plenty of opportunities to travel and learn.

Saturdays from 10 am to 2 pm, early January until early April, vendors bring their goods to the gymnasium at the Cambridge Community Center (scroll down for details). The Cambridge Winter Farmers Market is a fine example of widening access to healthy, affordable food and promoting local entrepreneurs. The market matches SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) dollars and participates in Healthy Incentives, a Massachusetts-based pilot program aimed at bringing healthy, fresh foods directly into communities that might not otherwise have easy access to them. The Cambridge Winter Farmers Market is located at the Cambridge Community Center, 5 Callender St., Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 (between Central Square and Memorial Drive, near the intersection of Western and Putnam Avenues).

Currently in its 9th season, the Somerville Winter Market offers a cozy indoors option for buying locally grown and produced foods on Saturday morning from December through mid-April. And that’s exactly the way that I like it: an honest-to-goodness farmers’ market where local food is the focus. Previously, the winter market was managed by the same entity that runs the Union Square market, but now it’s managed by Groundwork Somerville and Arts at the Armory Winters can be brutal in Boston, isolating us as we dodge the cold. Open Saturday from 9:30 am-2 pm, from early December until mid-April Holiday markets are also hosted at The Armory, organized by The Somerville Flea.

But in fact there are plentiful cold-weather crops and, increasingly, opportunities to buy them directly from the growers. In New England, where I live, the growing season ended months ago, but many veggies and fruits that were harvested late in the fall and early winter are hearty enough to last through the season. Beets, carrots, potatoes, parsnips, and turnips are ideal for slow cooking and roasting which draws out deep, resonant flavors. Leafy greens are difficult to cultivate in winter, although kale thrives in colder months and a smidge of frost often enhances its flavor.