Reviews for: Blue Pike Farm

I bought a CSA share with my savings from 2011 and my family and I were EXTREMELY dissappointed. We had to go all the way out to his farm to get our vegetables which were often bruised and/or on the brink of going bad. Additionally, the value of our boxes was BY FAR deficient of the $30/per week Carl charges. If we had brought that same thirty bucks to the farmers market in Westlake, we would have gotten almost twice the food and certainly twice the variety. Mr Sckallack CLEARLY knows what he's doing. I've worked with responsible operations before and the people who operate them KNOW how much space it takes to grow enough food for 70 CSA members. Carl knows his limitations and sells twice the value of vegetables he can produce with it, probably just to take advantage of the fact that people want to shop with a conscience. It's rude, opportunistic, and unethical. DO NOT purchase a share from this man.

Carl told me he'd been at his location for 6 years--right under my nose and I didn't even know it. Amazing. But enough about ME. I am not a member yet. I stopped by yesterday and got the BEST tomatoes I've ever eaten. And when I asked if there were any eggs, Carl offered to take me on an egg hunt. I got an egg that he took out from under one of the girls! Came home and cooked up some of those eggs.....holy cow! I'm now spoiled for the real, fresh kind. Got some peppers, zucchini and red leaf lettuce. Came home and made a salad and it was the BEST. I'm sold. Thanks Carl, for a great experience. You've got an amazing place! See you next week.

Blue Pike Farm is has the freshest and most interesting vegetables (heirloom varieties). And they're organic, so overall, it's hard to beat.

But the interesting perks have to do with the customer service. Carl allows flexibilitiy for his CSA members. If I can't make up my pick-up on Wednesday, I can ring him up and stop by the farm on Friday. Since I live close by, Carl has actually dropped my veggies off on my porch. Can't beat it. Best CSA in town, bar none.

I moved to CLE just last year and located Blue Pike Farms on this website. As soon as I contacted the farmer ( Carl), I knew this CSA was unique. The farm is located in the middle of Cleveland, which was unusual for me ( I just moved here from CA... where I never even saw the farm from which my CSA produce came). The 1st day I went to pick up my weekly share, I was amazed by the beauty of the farm and the friendliness of Carl and his "helper", Pat, who took me on a personal tour of the farm.

The veggies and fruits continued to delight me throughout the entire season, and Carl was even friendly enough to substitute different veggies is I didn't care for all of them ( I got extra squash because I can't eat tomatoes... darn acid reflux).

The best part about BPF is the personality of the farmers ( Carl & Pat). I was allowed to go and harvest my own basil to take home, and they encourage the CSA subscribers to volunteer at the farm. Such a great idea to promote local food and urban farming. I strongly recommend BFP to anyone in Cleveland looking for farm fresh, organic produce and a friendly family. You cannot beat the experience at BPF!

I was a first time CSA member last year. Blue Pike Farm was a wonderful first experience and I look forward to another year of fresh, tasty vegetables. Everything that was grown was impeccably fresh and delicious. It also afforded me the opportunity to try things that were new to me (swiss chard, kale, and different varieties of usual veggies) and made me a fan! I'm counting down the cold/snowy months until the new season begins!

An oasis in an urban setting, Blue Pike Farm yields natural beauty as well as vegetables and flowers. The vegetables are harvested just prior to purchase/pickup, so they are wonderfully fresh. This farm is a worthy endeavor deserving of support: the growing practices are sustainable; the produce is nourishing and flavorful; the neighborhood is enhanced; and, being local, the environmental costs of transport are reduced.

I don't do beets, as a matter of fact, I HATE beets. I would rather eat a pile of dirt than natures "candy"...normally.

However, my father has cancer so I, in turn, called upon my friend Greg Balbierez to find my father some organic beets. He, in turn, hooked me up with Carl Skalak Jr. farmer of Blue Pike Farms. Carl dug me up some beets from his farm. Not only was that a NICE gesture ( as the ground was frozen etc...etc...) but a bit more than I expected as since I am originally from a farm county (wood) I have come to realize that many ( NOT ALL, but some) farmers are a touch.... touchy. We will leave it at that.

Nonetheless, Mr. Skalak dug up some beets, made no promises and could only provide me with a very few of the little red Monsters...er, I mean veggies.

I took them home, the irony of the fact that I was providing my family with fresh veggies from an inner city farm and transporting them into farm country was NOT lost on me ( OR Mr. Skalak, who I attribute to the actual pointing out of this fact) .

My mother made them, washed 'em, peeled them and cooked them and offered some to me. They had eaten some the night before and were so taken by them that the second night I was back, they offered them to me. I felt if I turned my father and mother down I would be doing them a dis service since she had taken the time to fix them and I felt SOMEWHERE and SOMEHOW Carl would know I had turned down his beets that he had crow barred out of the frozen Cleveland ground. So I accepted, plugged my nose and suffered them down my gullet. Only then something funny happened, I didn't have to plug my nose, heck, I didn't even have to stop breathing. They were GOOD, really, really GOOD. I mean, I was used to a gritty dirty soil taste from a beet, not this pleasant almost flavorful taste that was sweet and pungent at the same time but NOT soily ( is that a word?) tasting. SO while my tasting of Blue Pike Farms beets has not turned into a love affair with the little red bulbies ( another new word) I would say, if you like them, beets I mean, then I would go out of my way to buy them from him. Just in case you DO come across BPF in your summer wanderings from Farmers Market to Farmers Market

Heck, I hear he even grows some other kinds of veggies too. If they are as good as the beets were, then I might even see you at the markets, seeking him and his farm goods out for another taste...

See ya there