Reviews for: Sunny Sky Farm

Sunny Sky?s 19th year of preparation has already begun with Mark purchasing an abundant variety of seed for our bountiful shares for this coming season. In addition to the weekly shares, we also have opportunity for the veggie you pick days, the long season of cuttings of the beautiful flowers and spending time on the farm. Mark has so much knowledge to share and he welcomes us all to join in the farm work or just to walk among the meticulously tended crops. Thank you for the many years of our CESA membership and friendship. Sally Prideaux

Last summer my husband and I joined Sunny Sky Farm, and it was the best summer of eating ever. Every pick up day was like getting a gift, we couldn't wait to open the box & find out what treats we received! We loved being introduced to new veggies like salad turnips (one of my favorites!), celeriac and many other delicious items. The greens from Sunny Sky are fabulous! Lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, making me hungry just writing this! The boxes were always full and extras were available if you wanted them. We learned how to eat seasonally, and it's been great. We froze what we could, it has been a glorious winter of chili and spaghetti sauce made with tomatoes that we froze. Made soup, potato leek & winter veggie with the root vegetables we received. We bought the storage share also, and are SO glad we did! Sunny Sky Farm carrots are amazing! We are eating the last of our potatoes, onions & squash, they have stored so well! Mark and his staff are so helpful too! Just great!

Sunny Sky is a wonderful farm which produces delicious vegetables. I was a worker share there during college and looked forward to those days on the farm every week. My experience with Sunny Sky spurred my interest in continuing on in sustainable agriculture. I would highly recommend this farm to anyone living in the area.

My husband and I were both worker shares on Sunny Sky Farm for 2 years. When we first picked up a flyer for SSF we had never even heard of a CSA before, but were instantly intrigued. After 2 wonderful seasons at Sunny Sky we left Wisconsin to apprentice full time on a CSA near Asheville, NC. During our apprenticeship we were able to experience the entire gauntlet of successes and shortcomings that are inherent to farming. We also toured 8 other small farms in the area and formed relationships with additional farmers who sold at market. The majority of farmers we were exposed to relied on a CSA for at least part of their income. While we were always grateful for for all the knowledge and insight we were gaining from the apprenticeship and these other farms, as the season went on it became more and more apparent what a truly remarkable job Mark Anderson was doing at Sunny Sky. Here is just a smattering of what makes his operation so exceptional:

- The astonishing assortment of produce. The first season was so exciting to me, having never had a number of the vegetables before. But what is even greater is that Mark grows countless different varieties of tomatoes, potatoes, etc. so CSA members are given an experience they could never get from a supermarket.

-The amount of food CSA members are given each week. My husband and I both cook often and were vegetarians, and our share allowed us to eat fresh, healthy meals all week long and still have extra to put up for winter. By the time the season ended our freezer was full of frozen peppers, broccoli, tomato sauce and salsa and our cupboards were packed with storage crops. I didn't have to buy produce until at least February and I don't even can.

-The price/value. Sunny Sky is definitely on the lower end of the CSA price scale, while simultaneously providing its members with an abundant amount of produce. Members can't go to the grocery store and buy that much organic produce for what their share would cost a week, and what is in the box is picked at the peak of ripeness so the quality is vastly superior to anything in the store.

- The absolute sense of community, which is, after all, what the C stands for in CSA. If a member simply wants to pay for a season and pick up their share each week, they can do that. But if they really want to know who grows their food, spend time on the farm, lend a hand in big group projects, interact with other members and families at a potluck, go out and pick their own flowers, and have an absolute blast at the farm harvest party, Sunny Sky will welcome them with open arms.

So many CSA members reap these benefits and much more, thanks to one experienced, hard-working, dedicated farmer who knows exactly what he is doing.

This is our fourth year with Sunny Sky, and our second year as a worker family. We pick up boxes at the farm and bring them to our home which is one of the sites where families pick up their boxes, or more accurately, their boxes and bags and extra produce. For the last few weeks, there has been so much food that we have had a bag as well as a box, and also squash or melons in addition. I belonged to another CSA in Indiana, before moving to WI and joining Sunny Sky. We have found the quantity and quality of the vegetables to be excellent. We have loved the variety, and found it to be a significant improvement over our former CSA, in Indiana. The families that come to our home consistently exclaim over the abundance and variety of the food. But the food is not the only asset at Sunny Sky -- the folks are wonderful people, too. Mark has helped me load veggies into my car, has called me in advance to "warn" me when it was going to be a particularly abundant load so that we would bring the larger vehicle. They often provide extra veggies, so that families can get a little more of their particular favorites. And the people who come to our home to pick up their veggies are friendly, cheerful, and happy about the food we receive. Every week, our experience at the farm with Mark and his crew, at our home with other CSA members, and at the table with the produce -- it's a good experience that builds community as well as good health. Thanks, Sunny Sky!

We have been a member of Sunny Sky CSA since it's 2nd year of existence. For more than 20 years prior I had a large garden myself but had more difficulty each year with critters eating my produce. We have greatly enjoyed the beautiful, tasty, wide varieties of vegetables produced by Sunny Sky. There are only 2 of us, both hearty vegetable eaters, and after the first few boxes each year (early lettuces, onions, incredibly delicious strawberries, etc) we often have produce to also freeze or share with friends because we cannot keep up. We get unbelievably wonderful garlic every week except the first few boxes, some of which we save for winter months - and it is always far more flavorful than any purchased in a store. The greens are often perfect with little or no insect damage and I know from experience that swiss chard, for example, is very difficult to keep insect free. Not every vegetable every year is perfect but CSA, like everyone else, must depend on weather conditions which are never perfect for every vegetable every year. Other outstanding produce includes challenging-to-grow melons, leeks, varieties of basils and tomatoes, including heirloom varieties,and many varieties of potatoes as well as the more "usual" carrots, varieties of peppers, zucchini and squashes, etc. as well as herbs. We have always felt the quality and quantity of our vegetables is well worth the subscription price. We will enroll again for next year.

I just joined Sunny Sky Farm after not belonging to a CSA for a number of years because there was none in my area. Their pick up location is convenient for me because of my work schedule. We have eaten well all summer on all of the beautiful and tasty produce. I love to garden, and do some, but when I grow everything I don't have any time to cook or process food. I have to admit that Sunny Sky grows nicer veggies than I do. I've belonged to 4 different CSA's depending on where I've lived. This is one of the best. Veggies were always very fresh and kept really well. Nice variety too.

We used Sunny Sky one season (both full share plus storage share). I realize that the quality of food is dependent on weather, but it is also somewhat dependent on soil quality and production and harvest quality. According to their pamphlet, a share is supposed to feed a family of four that has a mixed diet. My husband eats a lot of meat and some vegetables and I eat more vegetables, and it was not enough food, usually, for the two of us. We always ran out of most of the things in the summer (save for the greens and turnips). I was never impressed by the taste of the produce, either. It never tasted "tasty." In fact, all of the carrots we got from them were bitter tasting, compared to the really great carrots we were getting at the local farmer's market during the same season. Oftentimes some of the produce would be damaged. It always came very dirty (yes, I know it's a farm, but couldn't it be at least a little rinsed off?), so it always took so long to prep the produce (always more than three washings for leafy vegetables). Furthermore, there seemed to be a misunderstanding about the total amount that I paid for my membership; it kept getting resolved, then unresolved, then resolved, then unresolved.

It turned me off to CSA's for the following season because it was so expensive, and I didn't feel like it was worth the money. This year I'm trying a different one. I've heard good things about this new one, so I'm looking forward to getting my shares.