CSA Farms Article - who do you love (that delivers in SF)?
Just this morning I mentioned to Michael that I thought it was time to sign up for a CSA box. I open the paper to...low and behold...an article about CSA farms (linked below). At the bottom of the article is a list of local CSA farms, cost of their programs and links to their sites.
Farm Fresh to You, Eatwell, Terra Firma, Marquita and Winter Creek all deliver to SF.
So who should I go with? What has been your experience with any of these farms?
Years ago, I used to use Farm Fresh to You because they allowed me to get a delivery every other week and because they delivered to my office building (there were about 20 subscribers in the building). I also liked that they allowed me to specify "No Fruit". But on their website, it seems like they don't have group drop-offs and charge more than I want to pay for home delivery.
I'm leaning towards either:
Eatwell - every other week option, has a decent pickup location, but Wednesday delivery is not optimal; or
Terra Firma - its every week but we could get the small box, has convenient pickup location and Thursday delivery which is better for my schedule.
Pssst
Feb 26, 2005 06:39PM
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I love the box I received last year from Two Small Farms, which according to their site is "a collaboration between High Ground Organics and Mariquita Farm in Watsonville and Hollister." The variety was very good -- I never had to deal with weeks of kale, instead we enjoyed a variety of greens including kale, rainbow chard and escarole -- as well as a lot of other great produce.
I have previously subscribed to The Box and Eatwell Farms, and I like the variety and quality from this CSA the best. However, I find that for a household of two, it's just too much, so it's worked out great that I have a neighbor to split it with.
I can't wait for their season to start again next month!
Link: http://www.twosmallfarms.com/
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any box that has Mariquita stuff in it I would say YES YES YES! this farm's produce gets better and better every season! (lately I am living off their broccoli raab, just made a whole lunch around stinging nettles, and their carrots have blown me away. make sure to try their Erbette--- unbelievably silky smooth green.)
I am a really big UN fan of eatwell farms.
I know a household that gets terra firma and I have eaten some exceptional produce from this box, fresh and diverse.
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Two small farms will do an every other week option, just ask for it and it's yours. although I own a csa farm, I will say that my vote is for any of the actual farms, as CSA is about supporting local farms. Eatwell, full belly, terra firma, and I believe (but don't know) farm fresh to you (isn't that capay?) are all actual farms, as are mariquita and high ground of two small farms. the delivery guys (planet o. and the box) are fine businesses, it's like having whole foods deliver, not a bad thing, and not directly supporting a local farm either. now you know my own two cents....
cg
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Yes, Farm Fresh is Capay.
we get both Eatwell and Farm Fresh - we pick up Eatwell's and Farm Fresh delivers to the house every other week. Larger quantity with Farm Fresh and they are very flexible about customizing - it's worth it to have it delivered to the house.
I like them both. Have had occassional issues with quality from Farm Fresh (but we've been using them for something like almost 10 years now) - but nothing lately - and they are good about a credit if something is bad.
Eatwell is also getting into the egg business - they just got some chicks delivered and expect to have eggs by this summer.
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I second Two Small Farms. Last year was our first year and we loved it. Nothing but good stuff.
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I'll second Two Small Farms. We split it with the neighbors. Great stuff. Good variety. Good quality.
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For the past few months, we've been getting alternating weeks of Planet Organics and Farm Fresh to You.
I did a little post about it on my blog, linked below, but the crux of it is that I really like having the option to customize the Planet Organics box, and EVERYTHING we've gotten from them has been super-fresh. It's $28/box, and you can do weekly or alternating weeks, and you can specify how much fruit v. vegetables you want.
I finally cancelled my Farm Fresh to You because I ended up with a lot of fading greens (they were pretty good about giving me a credit, but I was calling with almost every delivery). Also, we got bok choy EVERY delivery for almost 2 months. FFTY is $29/box, and you can also specify all fruit or all veggies.
Link: http://sfmcclures.blogs.com/gastronom...
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I like Full Belly, though they're East Bay and San Rafael only, no pickup locations in SF.
We let our subscription lapse July-September because they include too much unripe stone fruit and Early Girl tomatoes.
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I can vouch for Terra Firma; we had a subscription for 18 months before needing to cancel due to an extended trip back east. We had the large box - good variety and the quality of the produce elevated my cooking to a whole new level. Shopping at Berkeley Bowl just isn't the same. The only disadvantage is that I need to drive to Alameda (from San Leandro) to pick up the box, but if one of the other CSAs isn't much closer, I'm going to resubscribe with Terra Firma; I _really_ miss their produce!
Kris
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Full Belly has a pickup in Fremont. I buy from Terra Firma at the Berkeley farmers market and I think Full Belly's quality's a bit higher.
Link: http://www.fullbellyfarm.com/csa.html...
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I bought the most fantastic spinach from Terra Firma this week. I mean, really - it was noteworthy.
I am a really big fan of Full Belly's farmstand. To me, they are the ultimate example of a polycultural farm - they even sell yarn and popcorn. I love them.
I agree with chardgirl's statement about being sure to get CSA boxes from actual farms, as opposed to places like The Box, or the other produce delivery services. That is, if the reasoning behind CSA Boxes is part of your decision making. Instead of purchasing local produce, you will be purchasing produce that is oftentimes imported and not really in line with the same philosophy as a true CSA box.
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I must not have a supertaster palate, I honestly can't tell the difference between Full Belly and Terra Firma (when both of their produce is at its peak, anyway). I just remember being overwhelmed sometimes with the wonderful taste of a particular ingredient in my cooking, which made me, well, happy. Thanks for the recommendation, Full Belly is definitely on my list of possibilities and it might well be the easist pickup for me, too!
Kris
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Be careful about "supertaster"--strictly speaking it means you find vegetables in the brassica family inedibly bitter.
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Oh really? I didn't know that. I was using the term to mean someone who has more sensitive tastebuds than the general population and can discern more easily the different components of a flavor. You learn something every day...
Kris
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I love belonging to a CSA farm. I love knowing my farmer, eating seasonally, and getting produce that was picked ripe only a day or two before it is delivered to me. I like the surprise of opening my farm box every week and the fun of making up weekly menus to match my goodies. I like getting things that I wouldn't necessarily buy if I just went shopping. I like supporting a small local farm instead of a giant corporate farm conglomerate.
I have subscribed to Eatwell for several years now and am very happy with their service. The produce is uniformly beautiful, they are very responsive to suggestions/complaints, and the value is terrific. I think that the balance of fruits and veggies is good, too. Also, they are now raising chickens and starting this summer they will be offering eggs to subscribers.
Many years ago I was a Terra Firma subscriber. Although their service wasn't bad, I had some issues: 1)I was often overwhelmed with a particular crop many weeks in a row (like 3# of carrots 5 weeks in a row!); 2) sometimes bizarre quantities of things would turn up (like 3, count 'em: 3 fava beans); and 3)they were not enormously responsive to suggestions. Big caveat is that this was about 8 years ago, and things may have changed a lot since then.
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I've been getting terra firma for almost three years continuously. I love them for the general quality, service, convenience, and most of all, flexibility in box size. They also have hands-down the best melons I have ever eaten in my life.
My good friends get Mariquita (two small farms) so I've eaten a lot of their produce. I actually like their mix better than Terra Firma, because it's more interesting to me. Terra Firma is more basic (spinach, vs brocolli rabe for example) but my friends always have a hard time using all the food they get.
Also, Terra Firma is year-round and Mariquita has a long break late December-February. It's a toss-up, but I agree about supporting one localish farm instead of a company that buys from various places.
I love Full Belly, but I've found that the pick-up delivery thing has to be really easy or it won't work out and if you're in SF, it won't be.
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I love this idea... had Organic Box yrs ago but CSAs sound even better.
I wanted to do this and called Two Farms re: their box. Still think it's too much food for me and they do not have the option of every other week. But I like that they are vegetable heavy rather than fruit heavy (I'm not much of a fruit person)and I am interested that they have a plus fresh flower option too. It's about $26 a week for a box plus flowers. I live in SOMA in SF. Does anyone nearby wanna share?
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