Reviews for: Fletcher Community Farm
The community was wonderful as well - the staff and the owner communicated with us very well throughout the season; and the periodic potlucks with other CSA members were a great deal of fun!
I cannot recommend them enough. Big thumbs up from us, especially for their first season!
Furthermore, we have received more produce than we could have dreamed of, and have never felt like we were receiving inferior products. In fact, a lot of it is the best produce we've ever had, and our friends and coworkers we get to share it with (because we have that much!) all have agreed. Any beginning is going to be rough, but for Fletcher Community Farm's first growing season, I can only say that in my experience it has been a huge success.
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It means a lot to hear that it was some of the best produce you've ever had Kerstin! It was a pleasure providing it and we are glad you were able to share some of the bounty with your friends and coworkers. Thank you for the motivating and encouraging words.
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Thank you for your review Tom. We look forward to providing an even better experience next year!
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Thank you for taking the time to comment Sarah. We enjoyed interacting with the local consumers and were happy to provide you with everything we could. Be sure to check us out next year as we are planning to offer even better quality and selection.
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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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........................................................................................................
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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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We're happy you all enjoyed it Ben. We also had a great time at the pot lucks! Thank you for the encouragement and we look forward to providing good and local food for you during season two!