Cape Cod Organic Farm "CSA" Review

As some of you may know I participated in the Cape Cod Organic Farm CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program this summer which promised (according to their website):

A $500 summer membership provides a family of four with a weekly box of vegetables picked as they ripen throughout the season. Box pick-up is every Thursday from 10-5 at the farm stand and each box is topped with a pretty bouquet of freshly cut flowers. As of September, each box will include a dozen farm fresh eggs! The summer CSA season runs from June 18th -November 19th.

Now I have been posting photos of the produce that has been received from the program (see links below) and I can honestly say that the amount of produce never lived up to the "family of four" test. In the beginning I ascribed that to the fact that we had an unusually wet spring and that there were bound to be delays in getting a large box of produce. There was always a huge bag of mesclun greens (at least 1 pound) but until the potatoes started arriving none of the vegetables offered to us amounted to enough for a family of four, even for one meal. This was very disappointing for us as we had hopes of doing some canning and preserving of whatever was left over at our little nest (there is only Mr. B and me here). I really felt as though we were getting the "fuzzy end of the lollipop" in this program.

Well, 4 weeks ago (I wanted to wait until I was not angry anymore) I went to pick up my veggies and I was told that the CSA had ended and that the current week was the last week. The person at the stand told me that emails had been sent to all parties and I was asked if I had email to receive the notices. I told them that I did indeed have email and that I received no notices of the early end of the program. The program ended 7 weeks early!

Now I am a pretty patient person but I do not like being told "stories" about lost emails and I don't like being sold a bill of goods either. When I went to the farm the next week to inquire about why the program ended I could not get a definitive answer, however I did notice that there were vegetables for sale in their farm stand. I would hope that next year, should they offer this program again, that they plan things better, communicate better, and stick to their promises. They will be doing so without me.

CSA 1 CSA 2 CSA 3 CSA 4 CSA 5