Reviews for: Family Farms CSA

The few weeks Foster Fogerty, Family Farms CSA, delivered was not consistent, slow and late start and once he forgot what day it was and didn't make the delivery at all.. another time he called and asked if I would drive out to his farm, pick up the produce and make the delivery for him. Our family depended on Foster Fogerty doing as he advertised and after a few weeks of greens my phone calls have not been returned and I have not heard from him again. My husband is unemployed and did not want to participate but I talked him into it and now we are out the $$ and the produce. This is a very sad event as we are caring for a one year old as well.. Shame on you Mr. Fogerty!!

A friend of mine intoduced to me CSAs. Essentially, you invest in the farmer. If the season is good & the farmer does well, you reap the benefits! I invested this year and am very happy. Foster Fogarty is the farmer, and organic gardening is his game. When I first heard a share for 2 was $500, I thought it was a little expensive. Once I put the pencil to paper, I realized this was a fair deal. Depending on the season, it may be even more than fair. So far in the past month I have had the freshest tastiest kale, arugala, cilantro, beet greens, turnip greens, bib lettuce, elephant garlic, green onions, & radishes. He picks or thins his garden on the day you receive it. I got the lovely surprise of beet & turnip greens because he was thinning his rows! As with my friend's CSA in Michigan, you never know what you are going to get! Ok by me! The grocery produce wilts much faster & costs more per week. If all goes well with the weather, I come out ahead! Yippee!

Ah, the 21st century version of a common huckster: CSA Family Farms!

I could sum up this review in one word: RUN! But for the sake of passing along some hopefully helpful insight, I will provide a tad more...

What started with grand expectations has unfortunately turned to disappointment and outright fraud and theft.

Foster Fogerty made a salient (and charmingly folksy) pitch to our CrossFit gym in the spring of 2012...a clearly willing (read: easy) sell to a bunch of health-focused families wanting to explore the growing trend of family and shared farming. Many members and member's friends were in attendance. We go the spiel on the seasonal offerings and how the deliveries would be coordinated (he delivered all of our bins to the CF gym each week, we swapped our empty ones and the cycle continued).

While I pride myself in rarely EVERY getting taken for my $, this was a doozy. The product options were simple: $550 for a 1/2 'share' and $1000 for a full 'share'. The difference in price is the expected amount of food provided in the bins weekly. Fine. He even provided examples of what to expect (of course, with guidance that different seasons will provide different produce). Fine. This share was to cover the entire calendar year, with the reality of around 30 active weeks of produce (he referenced challenges experienced in the dreadful summer of 2011 and some spotty period during transitional plantings). Fine. 30ish it is. Give or take. Keep in mind that the money was paid, in cash/check UP FRONT.

Checks paid, balls in motion...then the deliveries began.

With first meager deliveries, some of us shared, comically (and a little nervously) pictures of our produce, post trimming of all the greens (think tiny carrots with entire stalk attached). First two - three deliveries were the same; after some apparent complaints (the resulting produce, if carried across 30 weeks, would be staggeringly expensive per week based on the $550), the deliveries came 'trimmed down', with a few more add-ins. Then soon after, sporadic misses in deliveries (explanations: too hot to pull veggies...it was May)...now the real concern began.

Well, sparing any more disturbing details, the 'final' tally for deliveries was around EIGHT (8, ocho) before abruptly stopping. The natives got restless...emails, phone calls; no response. Last deliveries were around end of summer, early fall of 2012, hard to tell since they were so inconsistent. Warnings of impending litigation thrown at them as well; much deserved.

Mind you, from this one group, 20+ families ponied up $550 (and a few $1000)...that's a LOT of jack up front for what turned out to be nothing more than a several-months long con game. Did he over commit? Probably. Has he tried to rectify? Not in the least.

This review will be followed by a complaint to the BBB.

Interesting that the only positive review for this guy is the same Brian Jones posting over and over again. Everyone else agrees that this guy is out to steal your money. Stay away from this guy.

Foster took our group for about $8,000 and hasnt even tried to make it right by giving a refund or finishing vegetable deliveries. He scammed hardworking people out of thousands.

We were patient and understanding but the communication stopped all together.

They have no regard for our financial situations and have done nothing to rectify this.

DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THEM. Support another farm that is honest.

This should anger other GOOD local farms/farmers because people who act like this ruin the reputation of others. This is a time when many people want local, clean food and people like 'Family' Farms hurt the business of other farms.

Damned shame. (Ans yeah - look at who is leaving 5-stars - THE SAME PERSON!)

Mr. Fogarty took my money, $500, for half share (bucket) of vegetables per week. This was supposed to last for thirty plus weeks. He made maybe three or four deliveries and then quit coming altogether.

For a while he made promises about this or that, but eventually even that stopped. He has made no attempt to rectify the situation and will not return emails or phone calls.

Do not do business with these people, as they will steal your money.

Please note that the only reason his review do not appear as a "1 star" is that the same person keeps posting a "5 star" review which keeps the ranking up. Very shady.

I was probably one of the most skeptical persons when i first started with the farm but I have been a member for one year and Mr. Fogarty and his son have always answered their phone and when i have shown up there with my daughter (6yr) Mr. Fogarty has always interacted with her showing her new animals on the farm such as the pigs, baby chickens, ducks and rabbits. He goes the extra mile in answering any questions that i have as i usually have to ask what i am getting (city slicker). I am getting better, but there are so many varieties that he has that it is hard to keep track. Everytime i have been there he has been really helpful and has offered more when he has it. Just this last week he gave plants to start my own herb garden along with my weekly share. He has never given me anything during my weekly pick up that i have not seen him or his son pick themselves on the farm as i go out there weekly to pick up my share. The varieties of produce that i get keep me and my wife thinking outside the box when making meals for the family. It makes us try new things, which have turned out great so far. He has been truthfull with me everytime i have talked with him. I am glad i found the farm and we look forward to this season, hopefully we will have a great summer.

I am surprised to see the recent post concerning Family Farms. My friend and I purchased a half share in June--had two deliveries (three no show deliveries where I waited for Mr. Fogarty). I called in October to check on the status of the deliveries and was told I would get a returned call from Foster. I have heard nothing from this group since July. I know five others who encountered the same unprofessional treatment.

I do not recommend doing business with these people.

Although he had a tough summer, Mr Fogarty and son did their best to keep things going and i really appreciate it and still recieved good vegtables, eggs, etc. through the summer. Fall vegtables are here and last saturday October 30, 2011 we picked up greens, squash, patty pan's, spaghetti squash, peppers, egg plant. We had the spagetti squash 2 nights ago and it was great. My 6 year old loved it and my 16 month year old loved playing and eating it. They have been working hard and making improvements to the farm. I know myself and the others i see out their appreciate his hard work and vision that he has. This is my first year and have no regrets and look forward to the following weeks expecially with the rain we have been recieving.

I was not raised on a farm but my wife and her family grew their own produce and raise their own cattle. I have always enjoyed eating my wifes familys produce grown in their gardens (fresh tomatoes, onions, etc.) and eating free range beef (no comparison to store stuff). I grow a couple things for my daughter to have fun with as we are in the city. So i saw this farm and went out and talked to Foster. He talked to me for awhile because i have never heard of a CSA farm and he explained everything to me. I was amazed that i could do this-fresh produce from a farm within 15 miles of me. What a nice person to meet, he knows his stuff and is excited about what he is doing. There are so many varieties of produce he is growing, it is hard to keep up with it. He is local and the land has been farmed in his family for many years. I told my wife about it and we went out the next day with our 2 girls and he spent alot of time talking to my wife and showing her around and talking to her about the farm. My daughter loved seeing the rabbits, chickens,etc. We signed up, they gathered the produce and we got in the vehicle and i was smelling these wonderful aromas on the way home inside the vehicle, true city slicker as it does not smell like that coming from albertsons. I had fesh salad that night picked a couple of hours ago. This morning my daughter and i had fresh strawberries in our cereal. We had 8 plus varieties of fresh produce and fresh farm eggs when we left. I cannot wait until next week. Awesome experience for me and the family and I also got some bonus points with the in-laws.