Farm Fresh To You Review
Farm Fresh To You
Here’s a review of the first produce box I tried when I moved to Northern California. I will share my feedback about it - everything from placing the order, to delivery and unboxing, to examining and using the produce, and finally, at the end, I will provide a summary.
SELECTING MY FIRST PRODUCE BOX DELIVERY
The produce for their CSA boxes is grown on their second-generation farm named Capay Organic (located in Capay, CA, 40 miles northwest of Sacramento), and on neighboring partner farms. Their delivery trucks are well known among the locals here in Northern California, so I thought it would be a good place to start.
THE WEBSITE EXPERIENCE
When I first arrived on the website I noticed the interface was easy on the eyes. The homepage showed a bountiful CSA, layered on top of a whimsical and dreamy photo of what I assumed was the Capay Organic farm. As I scrolled down the page, I read through the simple steps on how the process worked until coming to a link to get started.
GETTING STARTED
After I spent several minutes perusing the site, I navigated to place my first order.
PLACING THE ORDER
The homepage at Farm Fresh to You.
First Step: Confirm my zip code.
The Farm delivers to my area on Wednesdays.
Second Step: Time to build my box.
Farm Fresh To You offers several box choices:
Fruit Only
Mixed Fruit and Veggie
No Cooking
Organic Snack Pack
Traditional CSA
Veggie Only
Two Size Options:
Sample boxes.
Regular ($33)
More ($46)
For this Farm Fresh To You review I opted for the Traditional CSA, which Farm Fresh To You claimed was the most seasonal box. There was an option to view sample box content that I found helpful. The sample Regular box listed 9 items and the sample More box listed 12 (screenshot on left). I selected More.
Frequency:
Weekly
Every Other Week
Every 3 Weeks
Every 4 Weeks
Third Step: Confirm and pay.
Once my selections were made, it was time to check out. Pretty much as expected here. I typed in all of my delivery and billing information. I immediately received an informative confirmation email listing everything that I needed to know regarding my CSA box:
How To Get The Most From Your Deliveries
When To Make Changes
Receiving Your Deliveries
Billing & Payments
Our Commitment to Quality
CUSTOMIZATION
A couple of days after I placed my order I received an email that allowed me to further customize my box by swapping out produce items that were set to arrive. I opted to make a few substitutions based on some fruit and veggie cravings I had been experiencing as of recent. Next, I was given the option to include additional items from the farm such as dairy, eggs, or olive oil. For this Farm Fresh To You review, I did not include any add-ons.
The Farm allows customers to create their own ‘never send’ list top omit certain produce.
The site also made it extremely easy to cancel service at any time, as long as cancellation took place no less than than two days prior to the next scheduled delivery.
DELIVERY
Delivery takes place between 8pm the night before and 8am that day. Farm Fresh To You explained that this helps maintain the freshness of the delivery, since California weather is cool both overnight and in the early morning. I thought this was a very interesting approach and I looked forward to testing the effectiveness of this method upon receiving my CSA.
"To open, place hands here and squeeze."
UNBOXING
I retrieved my box at 6am.
A look inside the box.
I opened it and immediately noticed the vast array of colors inside. There were two pieces of paper: a product list and a timely fact sheet with a few articles, recipes and event listings. I noticed the temperature of the box was pleasant: the interior was a perfect chilled temperature. The overnight delivery method was a definite win for me.
I laid out each item of produce that I received, seven in total, after I had made some customized swaps to the original box.
Here are some of my observations of what was inside:
My CSA contents spread out on the table.
Collard Greens
Strawberries
Red Carrots
Red Radishes
Baby Broccoli
Basil
Kumquats
After a quick examination, I washed the kumquats in a small colander, cleared a shelf in my refrigerator, and set everything up.
Farm Fresh To You produce in my refrigerator.
PREPARING THE FOOD
First thing’s first: I tasted a kumquat. I read on The Farm’s website that after a quick wash, you could pop the kumquat in your mouth and eat the entire thing. It looked like an orange, with the same sort of skin texture, just a lot smaller. I popped one in my mouth as directed, chewed it up a bit, seeds and all, and swallowed. The skin was not bitter like that of an orange. The seeds were pretty big but chewable. The juice was nice.
For this Farm Fresh To You review, I experimented next with the red carrots in a side-by-side taste comparison with a store-bought orange carrot that was residing in my fridge. I crunched into the orange one, tasted it, and swallowed. Then I did the same for the red carrot. I had assumed that the red carrot straight from the farm would have a flavor profile that was much more robust than the ones purchased from the grocery store, but it was really exciting to experiment with these eye-catchingly large red carrots.
As I wrote in my last post, if you have no idea what to do with your produce, you can Google a recipe or simply heat up some oil in a pan, chop your veggies, and sauté them with a little salt and pepper. That is exactly how I prepared both my radishes and baby broccoli this past week with some lemon juice squeezed on top. Both were delicious, took mere minutes of my day, and were great accompaniments to the next few meals I prepared.
MY MEALS
Here is where the rest of my produce from my Farm Fresh To You CSA ended up this past week:
Meal # 1: Collard Greens Veggie Wrap
I made gluten-free veggie wraps for lunch this week. I added store bought hummus and made falafel balls from the Trader Joe’s falafel mix - definitely not the healthiest option (cornstarch), but healthy enough - convenience wins with this one. I layered fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, red carrots, and cilantro on top of my collard leaves, wrapped it up like a burrito, and dunked each bite into a homemade tahini sauce. The end result was satisfying and so very guilt free.
Meal #2: Creamy Vegan Spaghetti with Basil
This has become a tried and true comfort meal for me. I prepped it this week using a quinoa & brown rice spaghetti I had in the pantry from Trader Joe’s. The dairy-free creaminess comes from a mix of vegetable broth plus unsweetened almond milk. I threw in some frozen peas, roasted tomatoes, added some seasonings, and topped my dish with huge, fragrant, and fresh leaves of basil.
Roasted Red Carrots with Carrot Top Pesto
Roasted carrots are one of my favorite ways to eat the vegetable. They become so sweet when cooked at a high temperature. I cut these red ones up vertically and in to fourths (they were really thick carrots) and I drizzled a homemade vegan pesto sauce on top that I made from the green tops of the carrots. The green tops were so large and lovely I hated the idea of throwing them straight into the trashcan so I did what I could with them. The pesto sauce turned out great - it packed the spicy, sharp punch I was craving.
Quick Tip: Later that week for dinner, I added a large dollop or two of left over pesto on top of vegan risotto I had kept in the fridge. Always keep your left overs close by - a little goes a long way, and you never know when you can combine a few things to create a quick meal.
MEAL #3: NO BAKE STRAWBERRY 'CHEESE' CAKE
I discovered Natalie of Feasting on Fruit a few months ago. Natalie does a great job of letting fruit, maple syrups, and honey bear the load of sweetness for her dessert recipes. I enjoy something sweet at the end of a savory meal - it shifts the flavor profile. I usually bake up her Vegan Magic Bars, but due to the fact I had this beautiful pint of fresh strawberries showing off in the fridge, I opted for her No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake. I also kept a few fresh strawberries to the side for snacking. They were sweet, delicate, and satisfying on their own, delivering a burst of flavor once the skin had been pierced.
RECAP
All in all, I am pleased with Farm Fresh To You's CSA program. The ordering and delivery process went on without a hitch. All of my produce arrived fresh and delicious, though I thought I would have received a larger quantity based on my selection of the 'more' box at its $46 price point. Perhaps it was due to my product swaps and customizations.
