Suzie’s Farm

I went to the farm for my little brothers field trip. The tour was nice. We were able to pick out a few things like radishes and chard. Our guide was very informative and friendly. I loved the fact that the farm doesn’t use any chemicals to get rid of pests, instead they release lady bugs. I also really liked that the chickens were free range and fed an all natural diet. The farm has a nice shady area with plenty of tables and even a swing and a hammock. I really liked that atmosphere and plan on going back in the summer to pick some strawberries.

So it used to be that going to Suzies farm was a fun experience for our family (two young kids).
Recently they switched over to some program where you have to buy 5 picking visits in advance, as opposed to just showing up, picking what you want, and then paying by the pound.
Now they also want you to pick with a docent, or tour guide. Invariably some kid with a nose ring.
So what used to be a good formula for families and kids, is now too annoying to bother with.
So what may have started out as a grass roots, organic, no GMO experience, has now turned into every other annoying corporate experience: sign up, give us all your personal information for our database, pay us in advance, and then when you show up, we may or may not have anything worthwhile for you to pick and take home.
Kiss my rutabaga Suzies farm.

I will start off short and sweet and elaborate: price is well overpriced and the selection is almost non existent.
My wife and I went here to pick a pumpkin from a patch to get into the Fall/​Halloween spirit. We arrived to a typical looking farm with a pretty cool tree swing. The guy running the stand was a bit strange, but nice for all intents and purposes.
We signed the waiver for the pumpkin patch and walked out into a dirt field where at some point they are expected to have tons of strawberries. This is also where some pumpkins may have been? The selection was minuscule at most. The pumpkins in the field were not orange and very small (could fit in your hand). To top that off, if we were to even purchase one of their «big» pumpkins (which weren’t available) we would have paid $ 25 – 30. Their large pumpkins were a medium sized pumpkin at best.
We ended up going to a patch in Chula Vista and got a very large pumpkin for $ 10. Much better experience there.

Oh Suzie’s farm… I have such mixed feelings. Absolutely LOVE their stand at the markets around town — the produce is fresh, fabulous, and incredibly tasty. I also absolutely love the variety of different vegetables they have, always giving me opportunities to go outside of my comfort zone and try something new — 5 stars.
I loved them so much that I signed up for a bi-​weekly CSA subscription, and unfortunately, that’s where they lost me. I read other reviews about disappointment about the lack of fruits, and abundance of greens in the box but figured meh — kale, chard, lettuce, they’re all different enough that I wouldn’t mind getting all of them in a week. But alas: first disappointment: quality of the produce I got in my CSA box was FAR INFERIOR to what I get at the market. Yes, it’s organic, natural, that’s great. But Kale that goes bad in 2 days due to infestation with bug eggs — NO THANK YOU (this happened TWICE). Not sure how they treat their veggies for the market, but they’re far cleaner than the CSA and last MUCH longer. Huge disappointment.
Next problem, variety: let’s just say, my decision not to renew was finalized when in a single week, I received lettuce, arugula, endive, and spicy salad mix. Yes, 4 «lettuces» in a week + kale. Hardly any other bulky vegetables that could serve as a base for dinner. (radishes… fennel… carrots (yay!)… cilantro…)
Believe what you read, Suzie’s farm CSA box is guaranteed to be filled with greens, but other produce, which is so abundant in San Diego is severely lacking here. CSA — 2 stars, maximum. I’d stick to their stands at the markets if I were you.

Drove here (40 mins from my house) to pick some organic strawberries. I had been wanting to do it for a while now so I was really excited. I double checked the hours and days on their website before making the trip to make sure it was a strawberry picking day. Upon arrival, I was informed that strawberry season ended a few weeks ago. I was so disappointed but thought hey– there must be other crops I can pick while I am here, right? Nope, I was told the next tour to pick crops was in two hours. Forget it. Two stars because the staff was very nice and helpful. I ended up buying a couple tomatoes but the price was even more than at the farmers market. Bummer.

Had such a great time, thanks to Meg! Hosted my son’s 9^th bday here on Sunday. He had gone as part of a school fieldtrip initially and had such a great time, he wanted to have his bday party here.
It did not disappoint. Meg answered my 1004 questions, and helped us set up a picnic for 30. The kids were completely captivated by her for over an hour during the tour. The 15 or so adults had a great time as well!
Thank you so much to Meg and Suzie’s Farm for making my son’s day spectacular! It will not be forgotten.

Love this place! We picked strawberries and bought shishito plants (6 for $ 5) and a Sadee Rose baguette ($ 2). We’ll be back next time when they open at 10am for free range fresh eggs $ 10 for a dozen, which is expensive but might be worth it if you want to eat them raw. Can’t wait to try more vegetables. Dogs are allowed except for in the fields and as long as they’re on leash.

Suzies is reconnecting the city of San Diego with the experience of growing food. The farm offers farm tours, a CSA box program, farm school and camp opportunities for kids and much much more. Great business!

The Corporation formerly known as Suzies.
Suzie oh Suuuuuuuuzie! What have you done?! My assumption is growth. Not of veggies & fruits, but of the ‘business’.
Look, i understand the purpose of a business is to make money, but, one expects, in this type of business, that the quality of products and quality of staff wouldnt suffer so terribly through the growth. An improper expectation for sure. Damn you Suzie! I had so much love for ya and now i pretty much always walk right on past ya booths at the farmers market!
Corporate sellout? Yes.
Suzies reminds me of a hip hop artist. Lemme explain. Its like the MC who was dope when he was underground doin his thing and not a household name, then he signs a big $ record deal and every album after that is a terrible joke and the MC (for the most part) doesnt care because he got his fat paycheck! AKA a sellout.
Kind of the opposite of La Milpa, who refused to sellout to ‘the man’. One could argue: where’s La Milpa these days? Closed for business. Where’s Suzies? Makin dollas! Its a cut throat world my friends and im smart enough to understand both sides of the coin, doesnt mean i agree, but as a consumer, i/​we have choices… for now!

Fun fact: I grew up with dat #farmlyfe. It is nostalgic and comforting for me to come to a farm.
Suzie’s farm is a small, efficiently run farm in Chula Vista. They have chickens, tons of lettuces and herbs, pumpkins (we went in October!), lovely flowers, and is overall very pretty and restful. I enjoyed it personally because it feels nice to be out in the fresh air in what feels like a slower pace of life than I typically experience.
The people are so dang nice, and obviously care a lot about what they do. You can pay for a tour where you can stuff your bag full of farm goodies for just $ 10. I NEED TO DO THIS NEXT TIME. Or, you can be like us and just wander around!
This could be a fun place to take parents or visitors, if they’re into that. I probably wouldn’t take mine here because my dad has a farm and I can practically already hear him asking about varieties of lettuce and fertilizing methods and I don’t need to get into that. But for non farm families, this could be super cool.
Beautiful location right on the border, full of life and greens! I am a huge fan. I had hoped it’d be bigger, but I had been spoiled by growing up on farmland and am used to big acreage, so that must be my bias. I would love to see them grow and offer more variety.
Definitely worth a visit or two.

Best spinach I’ve ever had. The rest of the produce is fabulous as well.

Went here for a City Experts event from Google. Lovely venue and met one of the owners. Glad to see a farm grow and be part of the San Diego community. Looking to check it out in the future, can bring dogs before 6pm.

Had a great time here late one night! Lots of vendors which I’m told is a frequent occurrence here and it was absolutely great to learn about where some of my daily food comes from here in SD! This farm is ran by people who love what they do and have a passion for the addition they make to the community!!! This place is absolutely a wonderful place to come as a couple, as a family or as a single person to not only learn about where your food comes from but, to see local vendors and possibly pick your own food to take home and prepare! It’s not the closest place to us but, we will be back and it was cool that in the night sky you could see Tijuana in the back ground!!! This place was just down right awesomeness!

This place was great! I came here recently for a special event and I had a great time. I was able to meet one of the owners of the farm and she was so nice and thoughtful and really spent time discussing the history of the farm and the ins and out associated with their activities and events through out the year! So much of the produce in our local restaurants is from here and they often have vendors in their public area to help celebrate what farming brings to our tables each and every day! It was a great experience and I can’t wait to come back for more! They have «pick your own» and it’s all organic which makes it even better!!!

Having grown up on a farm/​ranch, I’ve been known to geek out over agriculture. Suzie’s Farm runs a CSA (which I’ve heard is excellent), and always has a great display at the farmers market, but what is really cool about Suzie’s is their annual community events. They host several throughout the year, strawberry picking in the spring, pumpkins in the fall, but the one I go to every year is the pepper/​tomato festival at the end of summer. They have live music, food trucks, and tons of fresh produce for purchase. The reason I drive all the way down from San Diego for this event is for the u-​pick. You can fill a giant box with anything you want for $ 20 (2014 pricing). It is fun to wonder through the fields and see the crazy varieties of tomatoes and peppers these guys grow. Did you know there is such thing as a chocolate bell pepper? I didn’t. If you don’t like getting dirty, they also have a nice display of already picked produce to fill your box. I ended up with almost 20 lbs of organic, heirloom tomatoes for $ 20, and enjoyed spending the afternoon in the fields

I can’t thank them enough for making my day so special … It was a peaceful, green, happy environment and all my eye saw was life and love ! For a complete day I even couldn’t remember any kind of stress related to urban life! I am back home but i will keep this amazing feeling for long time inside my heart ! I highly recommend you to take your kids there and let them get familiar with real life! Take elder people of family there and let them enjoy the greens and special people who work there so hard to make that farm beautiful for us! I would like to thank the beautiful lady who was tour leader today 10÷8÷14 and let her knows, she has made not only my day but all my week and thank her for everything! I enjoy my vegetables and herbs as well and will see you soon again!
With respect
Baran

The GOOD
— It’s near my house.
— It is organic.
— They do tours.
— There is a really cool swing.
— Pick your own vegetables and herbs.
— Parking
The BAD
The farmstand:
1. needs a receipt register, they keep cashier accurate and customers coming back.
2. eight flies to every piece of exposed vegetable, not exaggerating.
The field:
–No strawberries.
–Aphids all over the tomatoes
–The tomatoes were pitiful, we picked through anyway to be supportive; farming is tough and we are in a drought.
— chicken coop area was very dirty
The PROBLEM
I was charged $ 18 for 5 lemons, 1 little bundle of Rosemary, 1 little bundle of Thyme, one small plastic carton of cilantro. They guy was kind of rude, telling me not to buy the wheatgrass for my rabbits because it was $ 8. He gave me some rotted leaves of lettuce to feed my rabbits. Maybe if he hadn’t pocketed my money, I could have bought the wheatgrass. I first thought that the cilantro cost more than I reckoned. But when we came back with the tomatoes we picked, a little over a pound he did it again. He weighed and rang up the tomatoes. I gave him a $ 20 bill. He gave me back $ 3 and some change. I paused and asked him if he said six or sixteen. He didn’t look surprised at all, he said, «oh did you give me a $ 20 bill?» So I didn’t pay $ 16, but I still paid $ 6 for a pound of tomatoes. And then he opened the sprouts and told us to try them. I was confused as to why. But we did. Then he gave us a red pepper and a yellow pepper. I asked, «How much?» He said, «No charge.» At first I thought he felt bad about my change. But after we left, I wised up and realized that it was a cheap bribe, especially considering the amount he had already charged me. I would bet that he was overcharging customers all day long. And probably didn’t stop after we left.
The VERDICT
Sloppy business practice is not cool.
We will not be back.

We came here on a field trip today. We had a ton of fun! It’s very hands on and there are so many different herbs, veggies and flowers to taste and pick. We also saw some happy chickens and a couple farm dogs that roam free and are great around children. After we got to plant our own seeds and take them back to preschool. Overall it’s a great place to visit especially if you are learning about gardens and how things grow :)

Came here for the JamHunt which is an event they hold here for strawberry picking. I found out through their stand at a Farmer’s Market I frequent.
So really cool event they had, ESPECIALLY if you have kids. They had live music going on, games for the kids, and food trucks. Snooze AM eatery provided free french toast bread pudding for this event for free and it was tasty!
Large fields of JUICY, RIPE, RED Strawberries… EVERYWHERE! My family had a great time, especially my 2 year old. They provide bags for you to pick your strawberries. It can get dirty granted it’s in a farm. OR you can skip the mess and grab a 3 pack of already picked strawberries for $ 8! Otherwise hand picked strawberries are $ 2.50 a pound… VERY GOOD BANG FOR YOUR BUCK!!! You can also get jam that they make from the strawberries!
Some tips:
–Bring a jacket. It can get be cold there.
–Bring sunglasses. it’s gets windy there and there are gusts of wind that’ll get dirt in your eyes.
–Bring a small pair of scissors so you can easily but the strawberries from at stems.
–Bring old shoes as YOU WILL GET MUDDY.
–Bring Hand Sanitizer as they will run out.
Only flaws I can think of is parking… but you can’t really do much about that… it’s a farm after all.

Can’t sleep… vegetables will get me… right now they are crowded in the refrigerator — and daring me to be healthy!
Chun P. and I eat a LOT of fruit and vegetables, and so we decided to join Suzie’s CSA. When I tried to set it up for some reason the website wasn’t working, so I called Wyndellen the friendly CSA Lady, and she got my request processed. There’s a CSA pickup spot on the way home from work so it’s extra convenient.
I ordered the big box, and HOLY HELL THAT’S A LOT OF PRODUCE! All organic — artichokes, beets (with greens of course), crown broccoli, green garlic, heirloom spinach, rainbow chard, snap peas, kale, carrots, and strawberries. We’ve made kale pecan pesto, roasted beets, sautéed beet greens with green garlic, sesame oil and siracha; steamed artichokes, broccoli sautéed with sesame oil, braggs and topped with sesame seeds, spinach salads and I’ll probably juice the carrots today. The strawberries were gone the first day!
Joining the CSA is affordable — $ 30 for that giant box of organic produce is great! And they discount if you buy more boxes so it could be quite cheaper. But — this is not for the faint of heart. If you’re creative and love vegetables you will adore getting your CSA box each week (or every other). Otherwise that many veggies may overwhelm you. You could always just get a small box instead.
Suzie’s warns there may be a hitchhiker or two in your box, which means that yes, you may find a very hairy caterpillar! Be nice and put him outside in case you do.
Bonus — you can manage your CSA subscription on the website — and they hold your deliveries in case you go on vacation, which many other CSA’s don’t allow. It’s definitely a perk!