Because of the quarantine, I've been having groceries delivered. I don't like ordering produce from…read morea grocery store, because I can't see it first. That's not a problem with Papa Spuds! Even though I can't see it, I know everything will come freshly picked and very clean (although I still wash it all). They say they have "grocery store prices." I'm not sure I agree--the prices were a bit higher than the stores where I usually shop, but the freshness and quality make up for the difference. At Papa Spuds, you order online between Friday afternoon and Monday at 12 p.m. From 12 to 1 on Monday, you can get discounted produce, but they had a limited selection when I tried this. Later on Monday, you get an email telling you when they'll deliver. The packaging is recyclable, and you're expected to put it out on the morning of the next delivery, so it can be reused. I like that you have the choice of buying a weekly or bi-weekly box. Although I haven't tried any, yet, they also offer meat and seafood, along with the more-common fruits, vegetables and dairy products.

So I use to belong to a community garden and I enjoyed growing stuff. But life has changed and I am…read moreworking more than ever. Enter Papa Spuds. I love that I can order my weekly veggies and fruits. I get to pick and choose what I want included. If I spot something extra, like some of those amazing baked goods I can just add additional funds for the week. They have a great selection of local as regional produce. It feels good to support local farmers and get great fresh produce, plus they bring it to my door. My son loves the La Farm bread and he gets so excited on Wednesday night.

When I was a kid I hated vegetables and fruit! To me, a vegetable was a pickle or corn and fruit…read morewas an apple or grapes. I remember when I was around 10 or 11 my mother took a stand and put a slice of tomato on my breakfast plate. She told me I could not go out and play with my friends until I ate that slice of tomato. Being as stubborn as Mom, I sat there at the kitchen table from 8 a.m. until the afternoon crying and refusing to eat that one miserable slice of tomato. Finally, my mother gave me a smack and threw me out of the house! That's how much I hated vegetables. Once I became an adult, I realized how nutritious and delicious they were and how important it was to eat vegetables and fruit to be healthy, and I grew to love them. One day, around 6 years ago, I saw online an advertisement for an organization and business that supports local farmers and locally grown fruits and vegetables called The Produce Box and I decided to give it a shot. It was one of the best discoveries I made food wise and I am still a devoted customer till this day. The concept is quite simple. Once a week you receive a text and email offering you the opportunity to purchase their pre-selected box or you can put together a box of your own. Most of the time I enjoy picking out my own produce. For example, this week I received 5 ears of corn, mushrooms, pineapple, cantaloupe, zucchini, tomatoes, kiwi, bananas, potatoes and oranges, grapefruit and onions. Total cost was $33 and it is delivered to my home. My delivery day is Wednesday. I always look forward for the box to arrive filled with all of my delicious choices. The produce is always plentiful and top quality. Rarely do I receive anything bruised or not tasty. Everything is just perfect and it comes in a sturdy box to keep stuff fresh until I get home. Sometimes I throw in an ice pack to keep it cool. I never compared prices to the grocery store, and I'm sure I am paying a little more for these fruits and vegetables. Flip side is they are either organic or locally grown. I love getting quality produce and I love the idea of supporting local farmers. Considering how healthy I have been since I have started receiving weekly produce from the produce box, I can't begin to tell you how thrilled I am with this arrangement. Having recently lost my dear brother, I am more conscious than ever to stay healthy. The Produce Box keeps me on track and has become a staple in my diet. I also like their flexibility. They can deliver weekly if you so choose, or you can let them know you are going to be out of town or don't need a delivery and they will simply skip that week and return the following week based on your request. There are also lots of other possible purchases like local breads, prepared dinners, etc. that I have yet to try. I know I eat and drink lots of horrible chemicals in my sugar-free and low fat foods and diet Coke. Hopefully I am offsetting the damage done a bit by my weekly consumption of fresh and delicious produce from The Produce Box. My mom would be in shock but happy to see that this morning I sliced a beautiful tomato for my breakfast. I've come a long way!

Produce lasted 2 days & rotted. Total rip off and waste of money promoting false people.read more

I went here over a year ago and forgot to write a review. This place is awesome. I attended an herb…read moreclass with my mother in law and sister in law. It was so much fun. They had tables set up where we had tools to mix different dried herbs, spices, and got to pick fresh herbs from the garden. We learned the medicinal properties of each herb and how it can enhance specific dishes and recipes. The woman hosting the event blessed us with homemade jam and homemade lavender scones, as she just got back from Scotland. This was a memorable event and the garden is absolutely perfect. Definitely recommend volunteering and attending local events there.

Raleigh City Farm is a gem in the Person Street neighborhood of downtown Raleigh. Its mission is to…read moregrow the next generation of farmers by connecting our community to sustainable agriculture. Josh Sattin is the Farm Manager who uses a no till approach and believes in farming with minimal inputs and no herbicides or pesticides. The produce will soon be available to all community members through a farmstand starting at the end of April 2020 with produce also being donated to local non-profits who address food insecurity. Raleigh City Farm also offers great community programming, including workshops and events (they host an annual, free Bearthday event in April and annual Harvest Dinner in October). Raleigh City Farm is a great example of local, sustainable agriculture at work!

Oh my goodness! The best chicken! If you were raised in a farm like me- this is a taste of home!…read moreAnd if not- this will be the best chicken you've ever had! The love and hard work shows in everything this little local family sells! Eggs are the freshest, they have delicious bacon & sausage too! I rave about the chicken because I've actually visited the farm & helped feed them! Kimmie & Philip are the owners and just wonderful & down to earth! Their kids help out too- like any farming family! Highly recommend! The sell out of everything quick! So if you see them at market, be sure to stop by!

We found Our Local Farm at the downtown Clayton, NC Farmers Market and we are so thankful that we…read moredid! We love their bratwurst and bacon and can not wait to pick up our Thanksgiving turkey from the farm in a few more weeks. When your food has been well cared for and even loved on by the children, it just tastes better. Stop by and chat with the farmers and learn more about how the animals are raised and processed, such a cool thing to learn about and better understand. Thank you Our Local Farm for feeding my family well, we appreciate your hard work and dedication to caring for our community.

This review is for products bought at the Plantation Point Farmer's Market. Their booth was manned…read moreby a friendly, informative and helpful Owner. She had brought a variety of fresh eggs, and frozen packages of their farm-raised beef and chicken with no additives. I bought a package of cube steak for six bucks, and she let me do a variety of eggs. I made up my own dozen container with two duck eggs, four regular eggs, and six adorable small eggs for just four bucks. We have been so pleased with the quality of beef and eggs. The cube steak was thin and nice and lean. Really nice, and the eggs...am totally loving those as well. I was told they will be back to Plantation Point Farmer's Market (which is on Saturdays), and I do believe they make appearances elsewhere as well. I will definitely be seeking them out to buy more!

I've loved using this CSA. They offer organic fruits and vegetables, and the Wednesday pick-up on…read moreFranklin Street is very easy. The variety is always excellent, and you can usually expect strawberries, blueberries, or blackberries- unlike a lot of other CSAs. They also have a flower option you can add to your tab which is nice. The small share was a great size for two people, but could be used for 3-4 people too.

FANTASTIC! Mark, the…read moreproprietor, is an extremely friendly and enthusiastic gentleman, a true pleasure to meet. The peaches are out of this world good, not sure I can go back to store bought. The farm (orchard) is set back in the country and a great escape from the concrete jungle. Thousands of fruit trees everywhere, just awesome! We will definitely be returning for apple and blackberry picking seasons.

I hired Bountiful Backyards this spring to help me tackle a neglected yard that I couldn't begin to…read moresee how to improve. Jodi and Kate came out for the consultation (in the rain) and we walked around the property and they were able to immediately propose ideas and locations for a perennial bed, a vegetable garden, a dogwood, some plantings to create privacy, etc, etc. We talked about different plant options, and they showed me projects I could do on my own to save money. There was a fee for the consultation which I can't remember how much it was, but you pay that when they come out. After about a week I received 2 detailed estimates for work we talked about, one with a rain garden and one without. I never gave them my budget because we discussed that I didn't have to do everything at once and I wanted to see the total cost of the work we outlined knowing that I'd have to do it in phases. Because I have a somewhat rustic setting Jodi suggested that I forgo the expense of a full yard design and put that money towards more plants. After receiving the estimates from Kate, I emailed back what I wanted to be the top priority after I could see what it would cost and she emailed me back a new estimate and we set a date for the work. My budget was $1000 and I got a large perennial bed along the left side of my house with 15 plants. I provided some of the stone and logs and Jodi built a totally incredible knee high border around the bed. It's been about four months and the plants are doing great, and the bed has completely transformed this part of my yard. The work took about 3.5 hours. After the work they sent me a final invoice that was right on budget. This fall I plan to get in touch with them again to have them help with me one of the other projects we talked about during my original consultation. I compared their prices to the landscapers that my family uses and they are right on par with them, and their mission of edible, low maintenance gardens fits with what I wanted. I would highly recommend them to anyone who needs a little help or a lot of help with an outdoor space that you would like to enjoy more.

I hired Bountiful Backyards to design and install an edible landscape in our front yard (our…read morebackyard is completely shaded and I wanted a garden that was visually appealing). They came out for the consult (the fee goes toward the total cost) and looked at the soil, the sunlight, the slope, etc and talked with me about what things I wanted. Our house is up on a hill, so most of the front yard slopes down - Sarah designed a beautiful edible landscape with a herb spiral, a vegetable bed, strawberry patch, blueberries/raspberries, cherry bush, and a bunch of beautiful perennials. It took a day and a half to install, but they let us help out with the labor (I highly recommend this, as you learn a lot about gardening, the plants, etc). Plus, they are all really awesome folks and fun to work with. The design included a berm to help direct rain flow away from the garden and a huge rain water receptacle (which has prevented me from ever having to use city water!). The most amazing transformation has been to my soil - it started out as hard red clay and has been slowly transforming to rich humus topsoil. The garden bed was done in the French double dig method, which has provided an amazing spot to intensively grow beautiful organic veggies. The perennials that Sarah chose don't bloom at the same time, so I always have an array of different flowers from April-Sept (that my neighbor's bees love). My landscape was the best investment of money - it has provided so much joy and neighbors stop to admire and talk about it - way better than a boring grass lawn! I would also recommend the BB Durham Tech class they offer each year, as well as the workshops they have. I participated in the Durham Tech class and also took their mushroom workshop. I met a lot of really amazing people (we had plant swaps after the class was over) and learned a lot about edible landscaping and permaculture.

We visited on a Sunday morning with some friends. We had a fun time with the animals. We were able…read moreto feed some through the fenced in areas (the non electric one of course) and go into the petting area. We had little ones with us so they asked us not to let them hold any food while in the petting area so the animals wouldn't jump on them. There were lots of goats, a few pigs, and an alpaca in the petting area. After checking out the animals we went fishing in the little pond. You need to bring your own poles and bait. We caught so many sunnies in just 45ish minutes. They were hanging out right near the dock, so the kids could just drop the line right in. We had an hour and a half timeframe, and they provided a walkie-talkie to keep in touch, and to let us know when our time was up.

This is a very unique and special place! When I went here, they had a cuddle session with goats! It…read morewas affordable and so so so much fun for everybody of all ages!

Hungry Harvest is a produce delivery service that "rescues" grocery store rejected produce and…read moredelivers it to your door step. Each week you can choose to customize a box with whatever fruits and veggies are in stock, by the lb. I've received two boxes, and both times the produce is in great shape. I was worried the quality might not always be good, but this is mostly produce that doesn't fit the shape/size preference or is surplus. For example, most of my veggies have been things that were in surplus. The onions I purchased were on the smaller side - let's be real, how many times do you use the WHOLE onion? It's nice to have perfect-size onions. Of note, the produce of this box is not necessarily local, nor does it claim to be. As such, it's definitely not a CSA. One downside is that I feel like you end up paying near-to-regular store prices for things that are on-sale in the store. This will be something I pay attention to moving forward. That being said, after a year of pandemic grocery pick-up, I think the produce quality is way higher than anything I would get from pick-up (I can count on what I order to be high quality too!) There's also optional grocery add-ons. For example, this week I added on local bread and eggs. It's definitely a service I wish I had tried sooner. Overall, this is a great service and it balances the unpredictability of a CSA with the convenience of delivery of high quality produce.

When Hungry Harvest bought out our local company Ungraded Produce, variety went up but quality and…read morereliability went down, way down. I don't mind ugly or odd sized produce; that's the whole idea! But items often arrived bruised and even starting to mold. The box has the wrong items/wrong number of items at least once a month. And sometimes delivery goes way off track--my box has been left at various places throughout my building, or doesn't even show up at all (like today--which spurred this review). My guess is that they're having trouble maintaining quality control due to over-rapid expansion beyond their home base in Maryland. Likely they have high turnover with drivers and packers. But until central management decides to invest in its workers, or whatever it takes to solve the quality problems, anyone who subscribes should set their expectations low.