Red Fire Farm

By: scarlet ryane (Oct 6, 2009)
I chose red fire farm this year because after doing my research this seemed to give the most and get the best ratings. But this year my husband and I have been underwhelmed. First, they charge much more than other CSAs and then charge for delivery, but they make us weigh everything and we have to stand in line while mothers allow their toddlers to weigh things and put them in the bag (i.e., s-l-o-w-l-y because their hands are tiny and they don't know what they're doing) when there are only 2 scales for sometimes 2 full tables of produce, all needing to be weighed. So, it takes forever to get out of there. Then, we're too far from the farm to go every week to pick produce that's available (which would make the high price worth it), but I've tried to find out what times/days this is possible and only get the answer "anytime" -- what does that mean? 8am on a weekday? 7pm on a Saturday? come on people, give us an answer. we have jobs. we need to know when to make the trip, which will be at least 4 hours driving! oh, and when we happened to be in the neighborhood around 5pm on a Saturday, I called and got no answer so we decided not to bother because the drive home would be so long if they weren't open. then, we had some produce that went rotten within a day. a DAY - that is impossible unless it had been picked a week ago and then stored badly. Not to mention that by volume, compared to costco, the fruit share has yet to amount to what we paid for it. I will say that the strawberries were exceptional. but i can go to their farmstand for those. And, we can get local organic greens at Stop n Shop, which might be better to do, support Stop n Shop's efforts to supply them. At any rate, we are most definitely looking for a new csa. if anyone has any suggestions, please comment.
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By:
Sam Merc ( Apr 28, 2019 )

I want to thank scarlet for the review. Sometimes you read something that you can see yourself writing and it makes you stop to think, ?I really need to stop and smell the roses(or maybe the produce)?. I have bought produce from Red Fire Farm for the restaurant I work at for years and it is worth waiting in line for. RFF- GREAT JOB GUYS!

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By:
Carolyn Hunt ( Dec 30, 2009 )

I consider it a blessing to watch urban parents teaching their small-handed children to appreciate fresh produce. If this means that it takes me 7 instead of 5 minutes to collect my veggies that is time well spent.

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By:
Sunny Schettler ( Oct 8, 2009 )

I felt my skin crawl as I read the review...complaining about their charging for delivery was just the start. This is a CSA, not peapod.com where they bring it to your house. I have used the bike-delivery service a few times and $15 is reasonable given that they're pedaling 20 pounds of produce on a typical trip. Then the complaint about having to weigh out the veggies? Yes, you need to take only the amount listed or there won't be enough for all. This should be no surprise to anyone familiar with the concept of sharing. If you want pre-packaged organic veggies from Chelsea or Revere just hire Boston Organics. And finally, the complaint about their not answering the phone so that while you were "in the area" you could drop by is just silly. They were probably in the fields or washing your produce! You really can just drop by anytime during daylight hours (and who would go to a farm at night) and visit the farmers, the fields, and the produce stand. Red Fire Farm has outstanding people, reliable service to their CSA members, great communications to members, and the best, freshest organic produce around. I have been a member for 5 years and recommend it highly. 5 stars.