Terra Firma Farms

I love Terra Firma Farms.
They do great CSA boxes. I’ve never had bad items. Sometimes they’re not fake-​wax-​perfect, but that’s because food doesn’t naturally look like that. I’ve never done an item-​by-​item mathematical analysis, but when I open the box I say to myself: «Yep, that looks like about $ 27 worth.» Sometimes I see figs or organic strawberries in the store and think «I paid way less than that.» And I like knowing that Terra Firma has long-​term employees who are making a normal hourly wage.
They also run a great company — friendly, helpful, responsive, and committed. There’s a personal touch. I appreciate the mid-​week bulletin about what to expect in the box. If I cooked more, the bulletin would help me do the grocery shopping. And they have a recipe database. Though I don’t cook much so for me it’s more like: «Oooo we’re getting a watermelon on Friday!» Or sometimes: «What is this plant item, and do I have to cook it before I can eat it? Let’s check the webpage.»

I used to get this CSA box for quite a while. I decided to cancel it mostly since I got tired of driving to go pick it up. The pick up spot wasn’t that far, but it also wasn’t that close to me either. I may attempt to sign back up though as I really did like the produce that was included in this box.
I felt the quality of the produce (fruits, veggies, nuts) was excellent. One stand out was the strawberries! They were amazing and so delicious. I would say they were 100 times yummier than what I could buy at grocery stores near me. The rest of the fruits, veggies, and nuts were all so much better than my local grocery stores’ produce.
The price of the box seemed fair to me. I think there were three different sizes to choose from but I’d need to check their website to see if that has changed.
As with any CSA box, there were a few items that I didn’t like that much but I still ate that stuff. In some ways, it expanded my horizons on what types of produce I ate.
I can say I recommend Terra Firma Farms for a CSA box. They also had these picnic type events now and then at their local farm in Winters. I did not go, but the events did seem like fun.

I have been a subscriber to the Terra Firma CSA for about 3 years, and I love it! it’s so fun to get to try new veggies and know i am using the most seasonal and sustainably grown produce.

We have been with Terra Firma for over a year and the produce is wonderful. Buying organic as well as local is important to us. The variety and the condition of the produce is great. We love the informative, weekly newsletter and the great costumer service. We eat many new veggies that we would not otherwise have tried. We highly recommend subscribing!

Terra Firma Farm is fresh, seasonal, local, organic, convenient… so basically wonderful. I have been getting a box for 5 years and have never been disappointed. Our family of 2 picks up a small box every week and it is the perfect amount of food. Also the newsletter with suggestions of recipes provides new and tasty ways to fix the veggies we bring home.

The worst thing about Terra Firma? Having more delicious heirloom tomatoes in August than I can eat. The highlight is the food, of course, but a close second is the Wednesday newsletter from Pablito, including commentaries on the farm and farming, a description of the current week’s box and a recipe for the current delivery of vegetables and fruits. The deliveries are 100% on time and the hosts of the Glen Park drop site are the best.

I’ve been a subscriber for the past 17 years, and i’ll never stop being a subscriber. The produce is exceptional, the service is friendly and prompt, they have an auto pay feature. I have used 6 or 8 different pickup sites in SF and have met nice people at each of them.
I love eating seasonally, and this is the way to do it. Also, this farm does it all-​no middle man. Middle man csa’s usually have an extra day built into the schedule between harvesting and delivery. TFF has no delay, no wilted produce sitting in a warehouse or a truck or 2 over a few days. TFF produce is so damned fresh, it is hard to believe. I refuse, flat out, to buy tomatoes or corn (or most any veggie or fruit) at a store.
My faves: heirloom tomatoes, basil, Asian pears, grapes, carrots, long curly cukes, kale, chard, greens, garlic, leeks, onions, sweet potatoes, butter nut squash (make pie!).
I love it. Your money goes right to the farm and the workers. There is also a great newsletter with recipes and farm news, including political and scientific organic/​government issues we all should be aware of. I had no ideal how backwards some of the «seems good!» laws about organics and farm labor are.
Subscribe-​you will love it. It takes a bit of adjustment to eat seasonally-​you do need to do a bit of planning and a few ingredients from the store will make a bunch of fresh veggies exceptional! (I try to have tofu, cilantro, jalapeño, fresh water mozz around…)

I have been a subscriber for years. I love the farmers and the tasty, healthy fruit and vegetables that come in my csa box every week. I love knowing that I am eating the freshest produce around and that it doesn’t have to né trucked many miles to get to me. Terra Firmament has great prices and great customer service. I highly recommend their CSA program.

We have continued to be subscribers to TFF and continue to LOVE this CSA! They continue to provide tasty food produced locally and organically. We have received the medium box for the past couple of years straight, forcing us to try to eat healthier.
Their new on-​line ordering system is SOOOO much better. We don’t have to rely on potentially missed emails, and can very easily order extra fruit or veggies when available.
Please consider getting a TFF CSA… you will not be disappointed :)

Must be the early spring first experience but a lot of the box looked like it was
suspiciously outsourced (old looking and not much of it).
and there isn‘t enough for more than a couple meals.
So far works out to about 5 bucks a pound across the board.
Cheaper at Nuggets organic section (and that’s saying something)
and you actually get what you want.
Sooo, we tried the other outfit and the first week got a box with seven asst. bunches of Kale, rabe, mustard greens, other greens and all the rest of the greens that I‘m guessing
used to reside atop — — wait for it — — –vegetables…
I guess there‘s a reason most people don’t buy their groceries online.

I just joined this CSA and got my first box of fruits and veggies. Everything is organic and the small box is only $ 14 a week, which is less than I would have spent at the farmer’s market on all this stuff. Everything was delicious and I feel good about supporting local farmers.

Delicious. Organic. Local. Wide variety of vegetables and fruit. Interesting newsletters.
I feel like it’s my birthday every time I open up my Terra Firma CSA box!

I have been a customer of Terra Firma Farms for years. I love their food. I recommend them and the CSA experience to everyone who asks.
I was already a pretty healthy eater when I joined Terra Firma, but my consumption of fruits and vegetables doubled when I started receiving my weekly boxes. They provide recipes and guides for storing and preparing everything.
You cannot find better strawberries anywhere.

I am so excited to have signed up for Terra Firma again! We were members for about a year, but quit last year because I was working too many nights and we weren’t eating all our produce each week. We also disliked the hassle of having to drive 2 miles up into the Berkeley hills every week to pick up our box. We tried using Farm Fresh To You for a few months, because they offer local delivery, but we were spoiled by Terra Firma’s amazing produce, FFTY’s fruit and veggies were just plain rotten in comparison. We tried to make regular visits to our local farmer’s markets, but we missed Terra Firma so much, we’re back again! We also found an excellent solution to the driving issue. The pick-​up location near our home is hard to get to and not close, but we realized there’s a pick-​up very close to wifey’s office, so she can just stop by after work. Yay!!!
Pros:
— The produce is consistently very very good. It’s fresh, and ripe, and delicious.
— They collaborate with other local farms to offer variety, or to make up for under-​performing crops.
— Nuts!
— The produce is all handled very carefully, never bruised, and always boxed with care.
— Not having any choice in what you get each week forces you to try new things and learn new recipes.
— The weekly newsletter includes fun stories and news about what’s going on at the farm, as well as recipes to try.
— They re-​use the waxed cardboard boxes and berry baskets, and don’t include any more packaging than necessary.
— They have annual events on the farm where you can come and visit.
— They have a new website that makes sign up, billing, and account management MUCH easier than it used to be.
— Choosing Community Supported Agriculture makes me feel good about myself and the world around-​me.
— The prices are way better than our local farmer’s market. In addition to the regular box, they are currently offering a carton (6 boxes) of fresh strawberries for $ 12. Our local farmer’s market charges double that. They also offer 10 lbs of ruby red grapefruit for $ 12. Hello fresh-​squeezed Greyhounds!
Tips:
— Even though there’s just two of us, we chose to get the medium box because we liked the increased variety. This means we have to eat MORE fruit and veggies, which is healthier anyway.
— If there’s occasionally too much of something, we give it away to family, friends, or co-​workers.
— If you want more or less, you can change your box-​size with just a week’s notice.
— If you go on vacation you can skip a week for a small charge, or give your box to a friend.
— If there’s no pick-​up location convenient to your home, try searching near your work! It’s super easy to stop by on your way home from the office.
— Once upon a time they offered bi-​weekly pick-​ups, but they no longer do, so weekly pick-​ups are now the only option.

Terra Firma is the same price as whole foods, the only reason to subscribe to them is in support of small family business. They are very friendly to get you to subscribe, however, once you are in then it starts: poor communication elitist attitude, very unhelpful and unaccommodating.

Every Wednesday I look forward to picking up my TFF CSA box. It’s seriously like getting a surprise present every week! I get to try fruits and veggies that I might not usually eat and even better — it’s all organic. Plus there are quite a few pickup locations so there’s sure to be one close to you.
I’m single and eat most of my meals at home, so I get a small box. I still pick up a few veggies at the store just to round everything out. They give you a pretty good variety every week, although I have to admit I had a huge surplus of tomatoes during the summer. A girl can only eat so many tomatoes…
–1 star for several minor issues. I took a month off while I was out of town, but I still had to pay like $ 15, then I didn’t get my box the following week even though I had paid. The corn sometimes has caterpillars on them. Okay, it’s organic, I get it, but it seriously freaked me out and now I’m scared to shuck corn.

If you want to each fresh organic vegetables, fruit, and nuts, and support local, sustainable farming, then join a CSA! We’ve subscribed to Terra Firma for the last 4 years and now can’t imagine buying fruits and veggies at the supermarket. The farm veggies are so fresh and tasty that my 4 year old son and 2 year old daughter are addicted to eating their carrots and broccoli RAW. They LOVE veggies and are adventurous eaters, which I attribute to growing up with the CSA box. Now, if that isn’t an endorsement, I don’t know what is.
You get a big box of seasonal veggies and fruits weekly — you have to pick them up at a drop-​off site in Sacramento on the appointed day. You get a lot of bang for your buck, especially considering the price of organic fruits and veggies at the regular grocery store. There’s a newsletter that accompanies each box that details the contents and gives recipe suggestions. I also love reading the farmer’s essay that is on each newsletter as it it has given me a lot to think about with regards to food politics and the day-​to-​day work of running a farm.
I have now noticed that my family is really in tune with seasonal eating. My kids don’t ask for fruits and vegetables that are not in season because they really KNOW where their food comes from. When I told my son that there were mandarins in the box this week, he literally shook with joy, «I’m so happy the mandarins are here! I knew they would be coming soon since the grapes ended.» The farm, located in Winters, also hosts an awesome «Farm Day» each year, which we go to so that our kids can see where their food is produced and understand that dirt is a good thing. They have live music, you can pick leftover produce in the fields, and eat a lunch of sustainably-​raised ingredients. We also went to a few of their U-​Pick strawberry days this year where we picked flats of organic strawberries for $ 12 each!
I still go to the local farmer’s markets to get other ingredients that may not be in the box that week, but it’s nice not HAVING to go. Also, we are often out of town on the weekends so I invariably can’t go to the local farmer’s markets — having a CSA box is a nice back-​up. I find that I am able to use all of the veggies in the box (we get a medium one) for my family of 4. We are not vegetarians but we definitely eat A LOT of vegetables now that we have integrated the box into our lives.
Three cheers for Terra Firma!

I have tried at least three CSAs now and Terra Firma is by far my favorite. A few reasons why:
— I really enjoy getting fruit as well as vegetables (other CSAs are veggies only)
— Every week the box contains a great variety of items
— Valerie is pleasant to work with and answers questions quickly.
— I can pay via PayPal! It’s nice to not have to dig out my check book and stamps.
So far a great experience. Highly recommended.

Terra Firma is a great choice if you want organic, locally grown produce. Thanks to my subscription I’m eating a variety of foods that I wouldn’t normally try. Everything’s always tasty too. Before I started Terra Firma, I wanted to eat more organic food but I thought it was too expensive and also I didn’t know how to choose quality produce. I grew up with the waxed, supermarket fruits and veggies and, as you probably know, organic produce looks quite a bit different than that.
Everything in my weekly box has been delicious and I’m not spending any more on food than I did before my subscription. I still need to go to the store to get things like milk and eggs, but as far as produce goes, I’m set. I eat out less because I have so much good stuff waiting for me at home. I also LOVE picking up my box and driving it home because (I kid you not), it smells so good.
Every week the Terra Firma site posts a newsletter that tells you what will be in your box as well as recipes that you can use with that week’s selection. I like to look at the newsletter before I pick up my box so I can plan my meals. I’m not the best cook in the world, but it’s pretty hard to make a crummy meal with such great ingredients.
I really enjoy eating with the seasons and getting food that was grown only a few miles away. I’d recommend you check them out.

I LOVE MY CSA BOX!!!
I know, I know, caps are lame. But I’m really freaking excited. You know, having grown up in Las Vegas… infinitely far from any sort of farm, except the kind that sprouts slot machines… I don’t think I ever knew what fresh fruits and vegetables SMELL like. Do you know how sad that is? I’m ¹⁄₃ through my life and just NOW smelling a strawberry and onion for the first time. I mean, *really* smelling them. It’s phenomenal. Just today, for the first time in my life, I had beet greens! I’ve never eaten beets so who knew they had greens that were so delicious and vitamin rich? Pathetic, I know. But I’ve seen the light and will spread the word as far as my voice and written word will allow.
Both of my parents grew up on farms in the midwest; how on earth did they manage to lose their taste for produce, finding the corporate supermarket stock *good enough*? It’s disturbing.
I love the newsletters. I love the food, even though I don’t have a clue what half of it is. I love the people (and I don’t even know any of them!)
We get a medium box delivered weekly in our neighborhood for $ 98/​mo. Being a very olfaction-​oriented individual, I think the scent alone is worth the price.