We hunted far and wide for an affordable summer CSA this year and happily discovered Tantre Farms…read more We ended up choosing Tantre for their variety of fruits and vegetables. They also include U-pick options as part of their CSA, however, we live an hour away and we're only able to visit once for a U-Pick. The produce selection is wide and each week, we had lots of different vegetables, including root veggies, lettuces, and cruciferous veg. We picked ours up from a local store in Plymouth made possible thanks to an awesome volunteer. The vegetables were some of the most delicious I've ever had, very fresh, maybe wonky shaped, but so delicious and without pesticides. Tantre Farms also offers an Immune Booster CSA which is curated weekly and features items from other local farms and businesses, an extended fall CSA, and a Thanksgiving CSA.

I subscribed to Tantre Farms CSA last November, just in time for Thanksgiving, and I received some…read moreof the best produce I've ever had! For that reason, I signed up for the full summer CSA, and have just received my first shipment. The produce is so beautiful and so fresh! It makes such a difference to buy produce direct from the farmer. Here's what I got this week: Arugula: Not something I normally buy, but this is another reason to get a CSA. It's so important to eat a wide range of fruits and vegetables. Asparagus: Some of the best asparagus I've ever had! So much better than what you get at the supermarket. Red Ace Beets: Again, not something I would normally buy. I'm going to roast these with the radishes in the box. Green Garlic: I am so excited to try this, as I love garlic. I'm making a stir-fry with the beautiful napa cabbage and bok choy in the box, and I'll add the green garlic. I am excited to see what will be coming in the weeks ahead.

We love their CSA. It is bountiful and delicious. After a poor experience with another local CSA,…read morewe were happy to find this one.

I signed up for the farm share delivery.. just to check out something new. I am so glad i did! I…read morereceived my first first box yesterday. I picked the farmers choice box. Im glad i did! The apples were absolutely amazing ( we made apple crisp) and the asparagus looks absolutely amazing! I cant wait to eat it. I cant wait to see whats in my boxes in the weeks to come. U can also pick and choose what comes in your box.... but i like the surprise! So why not!

This place has everything and excellent service I could not believe what I was able to purchase…read morewith you no only maybe 20 bucks of my money and it was really lovely and all the plants last throughout the summer.

I love this business. I think it is a great idea and a cool "niche". Basically, you pay for a…read moreshare of frozen food. The food is bought during the harvest months and preserved and then you get it in the winter. I am far too lazy to actually do this myself, so this CSA is perfect for me! I've gotten corn, strawberries, blueberries, cranberries (awesome for Tgiving dinner), raspberries, pumpkin puree, tomatoes, squash, peaches...tons more that I can't think of off the top of my head. Yes, it is not cheap. I am about the cheapest person I know and even I will pay for this because the quality is that good. I also spent some time at the warehouse this summer and I saw first-hand the hard work that goes into the process of preserving this food. I will also say that I just paid $8 for a quart of blueberries. If the average price here is $7 per bag, I'm getting almost a full quart (I think it was 12 oz) of blueberries for that price. So I'm really only paying a little bit more and I don't have to actually freeze them. (Yeah I know it's not hard to freeze blueberries...did I mention that I'm not only the cheapest person I know, but the laziest??? :)) Seriously, this is a cool business. Check it out.

I was skeptical about the quality of the food being offered. After all, when you buy frozen…read morevegetables and fruits at the grocery store, you usually end up with something watery and/or mushy. And the cost was also an issue. But Rena did a smart thing: She let people buy a sample package just before Thanksgiving without making a commitment for the whole season. And as soon as I tasted their frozen sweet corn, I knew I had to sign up. I handed over my money, picked up my first batch of fruits and veg and have never regretted it. Everything's relative, so unlike a previous reviewer who is always surprised at how little food she gets every month, I'm always surprised at how MUCH I get. Whatever freezing process they use, it works. Asparagus was nice and crisp, and the fruits retain so much more flavor than the frozen fruit you pick up in the grocery store. These foods are not fresh--they ARE frozen--so you can't expect them to be the same as fresh when they are thawed, but this produce comes as close as I think is possible. And it's so nice to be able to taste these delicious flavors in the dead of winter.

I have never had a less than stellar experience at the Root. The servers are so well educated on…read morethe menu, we had Emily, she was great! I love love love the pork belly. In ways that can't be described in mere words is the flavor in this super tasty rich dish. Worth every penny. I tried a rotating martini on ladies night - a spicy jalapeño infused cucumber basil delight (yes I had two) so good. We tried out the onion soup - wonderful cheesy goodness on the top - lots of soft onions. Seriously the best place around.

Attention: Management…read more Hello, I'd like to let you know about my visit I had last night (3/12/19) around 6:50pm for my wife's birthday. There were many mistakes throughout the night. First off the bread was not served until 70% of the way through The meal and only until we had mentioned the food mistakes twice. We order the brussels sprouts, and one pork taco to start. The taco came out just before the Brussels and the Brussels were not roasted, more like sautéed with water. There was no seasoning whatsoever on the brussels sprouts the only seasoning was what tasted like overly spiced unbalanced coconut curry at the base of the dish with plain yogurt sloppily on top with unseasoned crispy shallots. I tried 2 times to eat this dish and neither of us could finish it. My pork taco was good, however the jalapeño sauce was very runny and almost nowhere to be seen or tasted. It was quite some time until we got rid of the Brussels from our table. We both ordered the orchard salad (one of my personal favorites) I have had it many times and I know that dish inside and out. I requested saga blue cheese on the side and my wife requested bacon on the side as she is a vegetarian . The salads took 30 minutes and the server mentioned "we had a mistake in the kitchen we had a remake of it" but it still should not have taken that long. Many times I looked back and the grande manager Cook was gone from the station and the sauté chef had one headphone in one of his ears as he was washing his hands! I'm not sure if your policy has changed but every restaurant Ive worked has a no headphones or phones allowed on the floor policy. At one time I saw the chef on duty go to the bar and have a drink out of what looked like a highball glass full of a liquid that Looked like a medium brown liquor. The salads came out, we began to eat them and I noticed one bite in that there was no Marcona almonds. I asked the server if he had any other nuts when he came by to check up on us, and he said no. I mentioned do you have cashews he said no. There were pecans on the menu with the sweet potato bisque. He could have mentioned those instead. He did not tell me before I order the salad that the marcona almonds were 86'd. My wife had pieces of bacon stuck on the blue cheese and the side of cheese that they gave me was Brie crumbled up instead of Saga blue cheese. It was very frustrating at this point because they had been almost 45 minutes and we were both hungry and irritated. My wife also ordered the French onion soup and when she got that she was extremely disappointed because it was a mess, there was no layer of cheese sealing in the hot soup, and the broth was very thick and almost had a undeveloped flavor profile. It had looks like there was a crouton with some cheese on it. I had tried the soup and I agree with my wife it was not very flavorful, we sent that back. She sent this soup back and got the Brie, which is consistent. This had been a special night for me and my wife. It was her Birthday and we never go out for reasons like this. I didn't expect this to happen to us on the one time we get a babysitter and go out to eat it, was quite frustrating. We packed up the salads and took them home. The server brought the dessert menu to us at that time and offered a dessert on the house. Our server did not compliment our meal at all even though our bill was only $33 and some change. We had to leave. All in all one of the worst restaurant experiences I've had in a very long time. The diner down the street could do better. I hope that you read this to your staff, both front and back of the house and understand that they need to step their game up. Just because they were once a restaurant of the year when it was formally run by Chef James Rigato that does not mean you can pull the wool over people's eyes and serve whatever you would like without any sort of integrity behind the food. I worked with James when The Root first opened and if James were still there this would not be accepted. I feel very badly that it's gone down this route.

White Lotus Farms is an amazing place to bring the kids on Wednesday and Saturday mornings to go…read morefeed the goats grass and just enjoy a low-key fun morning with a friend. I don't love that. They have extremely deep pond very close to the area where lots of children are. It doesn't feel very safe. I find that their bakery items are delicious and they have good coffee too . You can definitely feel religious undertones and not feel slightly strange to me, but I do enjoy the products that they make, and everybody is very kind . There are lots of fun places to take pictures in the flowers into tour the religious grounds.

I've wanted to try White Lotus Farms and I was able to get a few things when they were set up at…read moreEastern Market. I got an olive levain loaf of bread and a morning bun. The bread was very good, filled with Kalamata olives. The morning bun sort of reminded me of a croissant with cinnamon sugar in a spiral shape, it was decent, but I wouldn't get it again. The stand was very busy, they had a large variety of things, I wasn't able to check out anything besides the baked goods. Ok get bread again, next time I go to Eastern Market.

This is better than the past few years when I assumed the market was just going to stop. The new…read morepavilion is nice but the vendors should be arranged in more of a walk through flow.

There isn't much to see at this sparse Sunday farmer's market by the Canton Historical Society…read more The area is mostly residential so after spending ten minutes at the market and another ten minutes at the historical society, there was nothing left to do but leave. I prefer the Saturday farmer's markets in Farmington and Plymouth. Farmington is one of the best suburban farmer's markets on the west side of town. It is in a commercial area so it's livelier and there is more to do in addition to the farmer's market.

We enjoyed our fall visit to this farm. My folks take my kids here every year in the fall and this…read moretime we joined them, and we all had a good time. In the fall they have a lot of offerings on Saturdays and Sundays. You can take a hayride to pick your own pumpkin, and unlike some school field trips where my kids selected a pumpkin from ones "lain about" in a field, this was the real deal with vines attached and small to xxl to choose from. The hayride has stairs in the farm and the field, which is nice for older folks. They offer another one that goes through the woods, too. There was a corn maze that wasn't extraordinarily difficult, but was just right and fun to explore. There were some goats, a sheep, a turkey, and chickens to feed, and the kids loved a free covered hay pile play park with a tunnel and wood play structure. That got out some energy! I saw another tent where it looked like you could paint your pumpkin, but we didn't go in there. There was a cute photo spot with a bench, and I even picked up some homegrown produce that looked good and was really affordable. See pic for prices w activities. I thought this whole place was pretty affordable... At some of those farms the prices are crazy. Everyone who worked here was really nice and helpful, too! We came here after stopping for exceptional cider and donuts at Young's Orchard about 4 miles away, and it was a perfect fall family day!

Pregitzer Farm participates in the Westside Farmer's Market in front of Zingerman's Roadhouse. Our…read morerelationship with them started by purchasing their veggies at the Farmer's Market every Thursday; eventually, I would make a beeline for their stand each visit. Wade was always really helpful and personable. One Thursday, we started talking about their CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program, and he showed me their full and half share boxes. I was immediately jealous of all those families receiving their plentiful boxes each week, and I basically begged myself into the program for a half share box starting in the middle of the summer. I was completely late, and they were full, but somehow, Wade's wife Shannon felt convinced by my plea that I needed their half share box, and they let us in. And I am so glad they did! From August through September it felt like Christmas every week. On Thursdays I would pick up my box, and it was packed full of all of the veggies I love to eat. (My husband said I was like a small child at Christmas on Thursdays when I would bring the box home and take everything out immediately and revel in what I would be cooking for the next few days). The difference between this farm and many other farms is that they focus on the staples: zucchini, squash, tomatoes (many varieties), cucumbers, melon, corn, cabbage, broccoli, beets, peppers, eggplant... towards the end of the season we also got brussel sprouts, garlic, potatoes, and some herbs. This was the perfect box for us because I did not want a lot of salad greens -- I am not a huge salad eater. And I've always been a bit wary of CSA boxes for fear of getting a giant box of arugula and romaine that will go bad in my fridge. But after a season with Pregitzer, I am completely hooked on the CSA program and on their box! The half share box is really affordable, in my opinion -- $220 for the season, which works out to roughly $13 a week. For fresh, local produce -- you can't beat that. And they extended out their CSA program from what it said on their website, and I thought that was a total bonus. Half share is the perfect amount for two people. Pregitzer also hosted a number of activity days on their farm on the weekends. I never got a chance to go, but hopefully will next year. They are also open for business on their farm on the weekends and sell their produce then. Additionally, they offer egg shares (a carton a week for the duration of the CSA) for $30 and they also offer whole chickens for sale in November and December to their CSA people. If you are interested in doing a CSA box, fall and early winter is the time to do the research, pick your farm and get on their wait list. Be sure to look on their websites and see what they grow, ask what kind of veggies you will get throughout the year, and be sure it meshes with the kind of food you like to eat. Ask one of their CSA'ers about their program too, if possible.

EarthWorks is one of my favorite places to volunteer my time. They have a sincere mission to feed…read moreand educate their local residents. I enjoy reading Patrick's email updates on the farm as I'm not able to make it down to volunteer too often. Take a Wednesday or a Saturday morning to check them out and put in a few hours of labor to help advance their cause!

I work at D:hive (dhivedetroit.org) as the Engage Resident, and part of my job is to explore the…read morevarious opportunities in the city and relay my experience. I had heard great things about Earthworks farm - part of of the Capuchin Soup Kitchen on the east side that grows fresh vegetables for the soup kitchen and provides training programs for folks in the area. My day volunteering at Earthworks Urban Farm started off with approaching the circle of participants who had gathered in the parking lot. "Come join in the circle - there's room!" called out one of the volunteers. And so the ring opened up and I stepped in. At 9am it was bright and pleasantly cool. There were about 25 other volunteers - groups and individuals - and when the excited conversation faded one of the farm members spoke and invoked a moment of reflection and mindfulness for the work we were about to do. Another member spoke about the significance of the day, Juneteenth, a commemoration of the abolition of slavery in Texas in 1865, celebrated every year on June 19th. He asked a question: "What, in our own lives, had we learned from our past and present that would empower us to create freedom in the future?" With this in mind, we went off to work. I went off with a group of six others to work in the greenhouse, separating transplanting bok choy seedlings to small cells of soil, which would be given to families who would take them home to their own gardens. I plodded through the task, enjoying the feeling of handling the earth and living plants as the first work of the morning. I was across from a longstanding volunteer, William, who taught me how to transplant in a way that turned out to be much more efficient and, it seemed to me, more elegant as well. It began with a gentle separation of the seedlings, loosely holding a small bunch in one hand and laying an individual on its side in each cell. In the ambient mid-morning warmth of the greenhouse, the cool feel of the dirt was a pleasant contrast. I told William that I admired his slow and deliberate technique of transplanting, which he said that he had learned from Patrick, the program and farm manager. This lead to a conversation on deliberation and thoughtfulness, and onto the nature of manufacturing quality products and the changes in the auto-industry he'd seen in his lifetime. After several hours and thirty or so trays, our group returned to the parking lot where we again circled up. Each of the three work groups explained to the others what their job had been and the result. After each group member announced his/her harvested item, the group would clap in unison, and we collectively created a 'song of produce' from the list of plants. Reflections were collected: working together was one way of being open to each other as people; sharing purpose and sharing love removed barriers of fear and violence; and as one person put it, it was simply that "We just need to be cool with each other." And it was all true. We exchanged names, rinsed the dirt off our hands, and resumed our conversations. The farm's own fresh vegetables were part of the communal lunch in the cafeteria, where they thanked all of those who had contributed. I sat with Patrick at lunch and we talked about the power of volunteering and getting involved in your neighborhood. On the way out I chatted with William again about the feeling of waking up early and the excitement of being able to grow your own food and share it with others. I left feeling refreshed and full! The first hours of my day volunteering with Earthworks Farm had been grounding - slow, deliberate, thoughtful, and entirely enjoyable.