WE have never gotten a bag or box of produce as a share with this group. A recent pick up had two boxes set out of 30" long zucchini, and some round yellow -way gone by - cucumbers. We could pickup one or two from each box! II could list what we got from other pickups: a couple handfuls of leaf lettuce, period. one sandwich bag of peas - this is per week, remember. think zucchs the size of a human thigh are compost, and the organizers should be ashamed. Another CSA member does have two baseball bat zucchinis on their kitchen counter - for a joke. My husband keeps telling me that reading the glowing reports of other CSAs on Chowhound will just depress me. Well... yeah!
And I have said this in person - got a shrug, and emailed ,u concerns - got no response. Basically we put in about 10 hours of labor and more than $300 to fund the Fletcher Farm Farmers Market Stand. It's not worth the gas to drive to the next pickup. Basically I never want to see Fletcher Farm, or it's organizers, again!
Which is why I'm posting here. This CSA takes away from a wonderful idea and wonderful farmers.
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Oh - and I just saw the wonderful quote about heirloom varieties. didn't realize that Better Boys and Sweet One Hundreds were so ancient. There was an article in the local paper with a quote about how much produce FF was selling at the Farmers Market - so it can't be that there are no veggies for the CSA, the lack of edible produce must be deliberate.
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Ann, we are very sorry you were displeased with our CSA. We make every effort to deliver the best of the farm's produce to our members. As you mentioned, it was the first year of our CSA, and we appreciate the patience of all our members as we gain experience and improve upon the production and balance of our shares. .................................................................................................................................. We agree, after all of our preparation the first part of the season wasn't up to the standards that we set for ourselves. We will be updating many things with the knowledge and experience we gained this season to make next year's beginning one of abundance. We're sorry we didn't do more to let you know how important your concerns were to us. With your feedback we were able to tame our bountiful zucchinis. After we responded to your concerning email on Aug 4th, and corresponded with you further, we realized the best solution was to give you a full refund which we are glad you have received. .................................................................................................................................. To address the concerns you raised in your comment: .................................................................................................................................. - We planted all heirloom varieties this year. When our heirloom tomatoes were seedlings, many of them were not vigorous and healthful. Luckily, we had connected with another farm that grew seedlings and we purchased a large order of tomato plants that were a mixture of heirloom and modern varieties. .................................................................................................................................. - The article you are referring to was about the first day of the Haverhill Farmer's Market - http://www.hgazette.com/local/x1037667294/Hundreds-attend-first-farmers-market-of-season - It was the busiest market day that Haverhill has had in years which was very exciting. As always, we only brought vegetables that were leftover after meeting the needs of our CSA. We also sometimes bring additional produce from local farming friends to sell at the markets and to give to our members. .................................................................................................................................. We hope this information helps anyone who might share your concerns and we're always happy to answers questions or take suggestions. We are looking forward to a great season next year! .................................................................................................................................. Best Wishes, .................................................................................................................................. Donnie Cox............................................................................................................ Polly Jutras............................................................................................................ Fletcher Community Farm.................................................................................. fletchercommunityfarm@yahoo.com................................................................ 978-388-3422........................................................................................................