Reviews for: Flying Plow Farm

This person is not a customer. What product have they bought? What is the problem that they personally had with the farm?

I thought I would post another comment, because of course being accused of dishonesty is troublesome. The above review has supposedly been posted by Mourad Hammoutene. Mourad is a friend and employee of Mary Tolmie, who posted several years ago, if you scroll down you'll surely see her review. I was an employee of Mary Tolmie's husband while I was still learning to farm. This was in Asbury NJ in 2009 at the Asbury Village Farm. I left that farm to start my own farm in the winter of 2010. Needless to say, I didn't leave on good terms. Because of that burnt bridge, Mary has taken it upon herself to harass me, my business and my wife whenever we have come upon some success. Yes, in 2010 Mary reported us to the NOP for using the word organic without actually being USDA certified organic. NOP came to our farm and was a given a tour by me. Their representative was impressed with our practices but still had to file a report. We told her that we would be seeking certification the next season. Indeed, in 2011 we received our organic certification from MDA without changing any of our growing practices. Let me reiterate that, without changing anything in our farming practices from 2010 to 2011 we were able to become certified organic. The only difference was now we had the governments' blessing to call ourselves organic. Fast forward to the spring of 2012 when another stroke of good fortune gave us good press in Baltimore's Urbanite magazine. Here's the link to our blog post about the article .... http://flyingplowfarm.wordpress.com/2012/05/04/flying-plow-in-baltimores-urbanite-magazine/ If you look at the postings you'll notice the same theme as those here, "are we really certified", "make sure you check us out." What's interesting is that the poster, Karin Marcattilio, used an Philly area IP and is friends with Mary Tolmie. And do note: at that time our products were sold locally around our farm, not in the Philly area and not in the Stockton, NJ area, where Mary lives. After having a discussion with Charles, Mary's husband, about our concern of Mary's harassment of us it seemed the issue was taken care off. People had blown off their steam and moved on. Now, another stroke of good fortune is upon us. After four years of hard work we were able to purchase our own farm this fall and we have moved into it this winter. Lo' and behold a negative review shows up on our LH page by one of Mary's friends again. We have tried to deal with this issue with Charles and Mary, but they won't return our phone calls. We have tried to deal with it through LH but they won't remove the reviews. LH's response is to get some of our loyal customers to post positive reviews to offset the negative. To us, this sounds like blackmail, and we don't believe that we should go solicit for positive reviews, these should come on their own. Our stance is that these negative reviewers are not customers of ours. In fact they live in Stockton, NJ! They have never been to our farm. They have never purchased a product form us. They have never had a conversation with us at market. It may surprise you, but we know most of our customers by name, be they CSA members or farmer's market regulars. So instead of sitting idly by, I decided to write this long winded comment in the hopes of explaining the story. One which has two sides, of course. If you are truly concerned about our integrity please email us and we will give you a list of satisfied, long-term CSA members and customers for you to contact. Or you can talk to us about our farming practices. I also to encourage you to contact Mary and Charles to hear their side of the story, from the time I spent working with them, to the filming of The Farmer and The Horse, and to the present. Their farm is called Stockton Village Farm in Stockton, NJ. If you would like their phone number send me an email and I'll give it to you. In conclusion, these types of reviews, which are not about our actual farm or products, but are based on past grievances that have already been dealt with, are deeply hurtful to us. And, not just from a business stand point but from a personal stand point. We are honest hard working people who farm full time and who have dedicated our life to farming. I have always felt strongly in the validity of the local food movement. Whatever the label you choose to put on your food or whatever label you choose to buy from, be it organic, sustainable, conventional, IPM, permaculture, biodynamic, it comes down to the actual farmer who is growing it. You should know that farmer. You should have a relationship with that farmer. So I challenge you, get to know us. I challenge you to not let a government's certificate be the end all. Even if you don't buy from us, I challenge you to know YOUR farmer, whoever she may be. Thank you for reading this far, With love and gratitude, Tom Paduano

Please do check on our certification status. We have just currently moved to a new farm and are in the process of being certified transitional with MDA. Our vegetables for the 2014 season will be certified transitional with the Maryland Department of Agriculture. After three years our vegetables will then again be certified organic. Our website makes this clear, www.flyingplowfarm.com/our-farming-principles/ We have always been open and forthcoming about how we farm. If you do have questions about our practices we are always open to discuss them on the phone, 443 686 9786, via email, flyingplowfarm@gmail.com, or in person at the farm, 96 C Johnson Farm Ln, Rising Sun, MD. You can also contact the Maryland Department of Ag Food Quality Assurance Program. That is who has certified us as organic in the past and will be certifying us as transition for this season. Their number is 410 841 5769. Or you can contact the National Organic Program (NOP).

remove Kato P. comment

Kato Phillips asked us to remove comment

I have flagged this posting and tried contacting LH several times. Please remove this post, as it is posted from a former colleague, not a customer or anyone who actually knows (or has even been to) our farm. We consider this, along with her posts on our blog and other media, to be harassment. Please confirm that someone is actually reading this. Thank you! -sarah rider flyingplowfarm.com

National Organic Program Enforcement phone 202.690.0725 NOPcompliance@ams.usda.gov 1400 Independence Avenue, SW Mail Stop 0268 Washington, DC 20250

Lame...You're lame!

This is posted by another farmer in another state. She is a disgruntled former colleague (actually, wife of a colleague). She is not a CSA member, customer, or in anyway associated with us. However, we now know who reported that we had initiated our investigation from the USDA! Please, please remove this post. It is HIGHLY inappropriate, inaccurate and really a juvenile move from a rather disturbed woman. We knew that there were hard feelings, but never guessed that they would do something so unprofessional as this. If you have any questions or need any verification of any of these facts, please don't hesitate to ask us. Thank you for your great service, Sarah Rider & Tom Paduano

This farm advertised as organic for 18 months before getting their USDA certification. Call the Maryland state department of agriculture to find out when they got their certification. Check out their twitter page to see when it was established and how they described their operation. It is a federal offense to advertise as organic without USDA certification. People with cancer try to buy organic food in order to eat well and try to overcome their disease. They unknowingly buy from farmers that misrepresent their product. Ask to see a USDA certificate whenever a farm uses the term organic to describe any of their products.