I love the CVFS! Unfortunately we moved to Marin but still support the Capay Valley through another local farm's CSA program (not FFTY). When I was a subscriber I truly felt like I was connected with the farmers, not just a business but families. I loved the variety and miss the dried fruits, eggs and meat options that I could add to my order. Yes sometimes you end up getting carrots and leafy greens every week, that's because it's carrot and leafy green season. Be it too little or too much rain, pests or other reasons - you're connected and see first hand how everything affects and interacts with the food the farmers labor over. The supermarket has spoiled us, variety all the time is not natural, we have seasons but we ignore this and ship what we want when we want. On a positive spin, we now have tons of carrot recipes. We received a peck each week and visited our local farmers market to supplement. our order. It's easy once it becomes routine. And check out the area's Hoe's Down Festival each October at one of the participating farms (Full Belly). Here you'll get an opportunity to meet the people that make it all happen, tour the farm and see where it all comes from. read more

I was super-bummed when the Capay Valley Farm Shop in Vacaville shut down several years ago, but since its closure I've been on their mailing list and that's how I heard about the Farm Shop's Farmshares/CSA program. I've been participating in the CSA since last winter and I'm a huge fan! However, an important distinction I need to begin this review with is that this CSA is NOT the same program as the "Farm Fresh to You" CSA run by Capay Organic, which a lot of Yelpers have already reviewed. I prefer the Farm Shop's CSA over the FFTY program for quite a few reasons, but here are the key differences you need to know about the two when looking for the right CSA for you and your food habits: FFTY delivers directly to your home or office, whereas the Farm Shop CSA program requires that you pick up your produce from a local drop-off point. You do end up paying for the convenience of this direct delivery: FFTY charges $31.50 for a "Regular" size box of nine different fruits and vegetables, whereas the Farm Shop CSA charges $27 for their "Bushel," which has eleven items. Portion-wise there isn't much difference, and my drop-off point is only a couple minutes drive from where I work so having home delivery isn't important to me. FFTY has more "size" options for their deliveries; the Farm Shop has just two choices: the smaller "Peck" ($18 for seven items) and the aforementioned Bushel. FFTY, as far as I can tell, sources its produce from just one farm (Capay Organic). The Farm Shop CSA program on the other hand sources its produce (plus optional add-on goodies like olive oil, nuts, dried fruit, etc.) from a pretty awesome collaborative of Capay Valley farms, including Durst, Full Belly, Good Humus, and Riverdog. FFTY allows you to customize your orders so that you can have more fruit than veggies in your CSA delivery, or more veggies, or all fruit/all veggies. With the Capay CSA program on the other hand, what you get is what you get. There is no customizing or picking and choosing your produce. It is a TRUE CSA where you take what you are given based on the season, the vagaries of the local weather, and availability. Perhaps because it is based on a collaborative of many farms, the Farm Shop CSA program has a spectular feature that FFTY does not have: it allows you to add on other goodies besides produce to your CSA deliveries. As a mostly-vegan I'm not interested in the pasture-raised eggs or Riverdog Farms' naturally raised chicken and pork, but I looooove Taber Ranch's olive oil, the dried fruit from Good Humus, and the raw nuts and dried onions from Full Belly. If you're interested in trying out a CSA, definitely give the Capay Valley Farm Shop's program a try! You can check their website to see if there is a drop-off point near you; if there is, it's pretty easy to get started. Probably the hardest part of this CSA for most people will be the "what you get is what you get" nature of each delivery, but that's what a CSA should be all about, to be quite honest. I actually like that aspect of the program: it did get hard in the winter to deal with chard, chard, chard and more chard, but being forced to try new fruits and vegetables has helped me broaden my palate even further as well as sharpen my cooking skills and expand my repertoire.Thanks to this CSA I've learned that I love celeriac grated and fried in a skillet like hash browns, that there is nothing better in summer than a just-picked boysenberry, and that I can cook delicata squash for lunch in the toaster oven at work. I have the "Bushel" delivered to me every other week. For one person it works out well: I usually go into a frenzy of cooking the first two days after getting my delivery but my time investment in the kitchen for the rest of the fortnight is pretty normal. By the time the next delivery rolls around I've finished nearly everything from the previous delivery, perhaps save for some of the harder root vegetables. I did consider doing the smaller "Peck" on a weekly basis but I prefer the greater variety of the Bushel. My last Bushel consisted of the following: Roma Tomatoes, Slicer Tomatoes (Durst Organic Growers); Chioggia Beets, Padron/Shishito Peppers, Yellow Crookneck Squash (Full Belly Farm); Suncrest Peaches (Good Humus Produce); and French Fingerling Potatoes, Green Curly Kale, Green Slicing Cucumbers, Red Torpedo Onion, Savoy Cabbage (Riverdog Farm). Most of the Roma tomatoes, cukes, and onion went into making a really good panzanella; the slicer tomatoes went into sandwiches; the beets were roasted off in the oven and plopped onto salads; and the peaches got eaten as soon as I got the box home and gave them a quick wash. I still have a week left before my next delivery and all I have left to make use of are three of the torpedo onions, half the kale and cabbage, and the potatoes. Wow, I actually almost ran out of review space! I'll end this by saying thanks, Farm Shop! Can't wait for my next CSA box! read more

I don't see the point in this service. My coworkers all signed up for this service as a part of our wellness program and every week each of the eighteen dollar bags seem to have a few of the same items and the items that are new for the week are not very different (spinach vs. greens). Lately the strawberries have had mold on them as soon as they arrived! To my understanding mold can contaminate other food items, and since the strawberries are in a breathable container this is a definite possibility. YOU can get better organic produce from either your local farmers market or store with the ability to choose what you want for far less. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME AND MONEY ON THIS SERVICE! I am glad I decided to see how the whole process worked for my coworkers before I chose to participate in the program, with that said the majority of my coworkers will NOT be continuing on after their contracts are fulfilled. read more

I love my farm box! I live in Palo Alto and use the Calafia pick-up point in the Town and Country shopping center, which is very convenient for me. The delivery is usually there by 11 a.m. and you can pick it up any time until the restaurant (Calafia) closes. It's also nice that Calafia is right next to a Trader Joe's, so you can over there to buy some things to go with your fruits/veggies. One stop shopping! I have been using this service for several years for husband and me. At first we purchased the "peck" sized box (8 items), and I have to say that for just the two of us it was often a challenge to get everything eaten in a week. It would undoubtedly be easier if you were vegan or vegetarian, which we are not. When they started offering the "bite" sized bag of only 5 items, we switched to that and find it much more to our liking. We get a good assortment of fruits and vegetables, always very fresh and in season. Occasionally there will be almonds or raisins, and they are delicious and better than what I can get in stores. (I disagree with the other reviewer who said the raisins were just like store-bought raisins. I find the farm box raisins bigger, plumper, not as dry, and not as sugary-sweet as the store-bought kind. They are great in salads or on oatmeal). I also really like the ability to order "add-ons" to your next order. I mostly order the eggs (kind of pricey but worth it!) and raisins, but sometimes in early summer you can order larger quantities of some of the fruit, such as peaches, and that's perfect for me since I'm a jam-maker. Another thing that is great about the produce in this box is that it is like what I remember from my childhood growing up in Southern California in the '50s and '60s. It is much more flavorful, and not as crazily oversized as much of the supermarket produce. The strawberries are small and red all the way through. The peaches are juicy and melt-in-your-mouth delicious (and not the size of grapefruits!). The beets come with the greens still attached. Everything else is that way too -- just the way it was before people started tampering with our produce and "improving" it. Finally, it's nice that the box comes on Wednesday, just as my weekend Farmer's Market purchases are running out. read more

I work at CDPH and live close to work (without a car). So it's great to have farm-fresh organic veggies delivered to me. 1. Quality or diversity of products: These range from fresh leafy greens (every week) to at least one fruit. It might be difficult to consume the entire box in one week but freezing a few veggies and using the 'swap box' helps. 2. Convenience: extremely easy to place a hold on your order and if you forget to cancel, you can pick it up the next day. It's delivered to our building, making it easier to transport it from work to home. 3. Worksite wellness context: surprisingly, we didn't have much for worksite wellness until a couple of years ago. It's remarkable that a state agency focused on healthy lifestyles and located within California's 'bread basket' didn't make the farm to fork connection earlier. 4. Customer service: Ronit is awesome. Our boxes are always available and broken down. She also accommodates most requests. 5. Favorite items: Leafy greens and the berries. read more

I have been a member for a half year, ordering a "peck" every other week, and I have somewhat mixed feelings. A peck costs $18 and contains 6-8 types of items, each typically enough to serve 2-3 people. Pros: 1) They source from several different farms, so there's quite a variety. 2) Their public pick-up location, Cheese Plus, is pretty convenient for Nob Hill/Russian Hill /Pac Heights and also a nice place to shop. 3) They seem to take care to provide a mix of familiar and unfamiliar produce, and their website provides recipes and storage tips for all items. 4) The quality and taste on 95% of the produce is good to great. Squash season was a particular delight. Cons: 1) The balance can be off on some weeks. For instance, last week almost half the items were leafy greens. Okay, fine- I know I need to eat more of that stuff, but dandelion greens and radicchio and spinach all in the package? Especially when there was only one type of fruit included in this box. 2) They slip in raisins now and then. Raisins are *not* fresh produce, so I view this as a fundamental violation of their contract. And just so you know, fancy expensive CSA raisins don't taste any better or "fresher" than the supermarket type. 3) While you can opt out on a week's box, you need to do so before they make it clear what's in the box. Presumably that's so too many subscribers don't pass on a box that's less appetizing (see points 1 and 2!) 4) Pick-up is only once a week. So for those who want the flexibility/convenience of, say home deliveries on Tuesdays, you are out of luck. Cheese Plus will hold onto the produce an extra day or so, at least. In short, I'm sticking with them for now, but I'm cancelling the next time they stick me with #$%@ raisins. read more

I love my Capay Valley CSA box. I receive a "bushel," the largest of the boxes, every week, and have for over two years. It feeds me and my partner for a week, plus some supplemental fruit usually. Note, we eat a lot of vegetables. Most two people may be better off with the medium or small box. Every Friday I go up the street to my local butcher to pick it up, bringing home a large box of yummy fruits and veggies. Since getting the box I have only had one moldy item. One! Everything tastes amazing and vibrant, as you imagine it should, so much better than the store bought version. The Capay Valley CSA is great for so many reasons: 1. You get a variety of fruits and vegetables no matter what time of year. When a new food item comes its so exciting. Woohoo its satsuma season! Woohoo its tomato season! Woohoo greens greens greens! Often time you will get similar items for a few weeks at a time while it is in season, but folks, thats what eating seasonally means. 2. For the quality its affordable, plus I no longer HAVE to go to the farmers market if I don't have time, something that used to take up many hours of my weekend. 3. You get to explore cooking with new veggies that you might not otherwise buy but end up loving! Lemon cucumbers, watermelon radishes, kohlrabi, mustard greens, and on and on. 4. It gives me a starting point, helping me plan my meals for the week. A few days before your box arrives you get an email indicating what you will receive. My partner and I plan out our menu, leaving us with a grocery list of supplemental foods to buy. Makes the week easy and healthy! 5. Food never goes to waste! If at the end of the week I have anything left over, I put it in a soup, making room for the next box to come. Eat more soup! 6. It is so easy to put a box on hold while you go on vacation, or to add extra items (I add eggs every other week or so). Just log on to their website. I went away for six weeks and put the box on hold for each week I was gone, and was able to have it start up the week I got back. So easy! 7. The staff at Capay Valley are very responsive, returning your call the same day, if you have questions or concerns. Honestly I have no complaints! If you have a pick-up location near you, or on your commute home from work, I highly recommend you become a Capay Valley member! read more

Love Capay Valley Farm Shop's CSA! I signed up because my work was offering a promotional discount and they offer onsite pickup, but I'm hooked because of the quality of the produce, the excellent customer service, and the fact that I get to help support local farms! My boyfriend and I cook frequently, and the "peck" (the medium box) is just the right size for us. We like to use what's in the peck to guide our recipes for the week and then supplement with the farmer's market. The boxes aren't as customizable as other CSAs in the area, but we like that this helps keep the price down AND pushes us to try out new produce and new recipes (and the swap box helps when we really need to change). The produce is always good, the majority is organic, and their website has helpful tips on how to use some of the less common items. Plus, Ronit (who handles our pickup point) is so helpful, accommodating, and couldn't be nicer. We've recently started to try out some of the other wares in the Farm Shop (meats, herb blends, olive oils), and we haven't been disappointed yet! Highly recommend for anyone thinking of trying out a CSA! read more

DO NOT USE THESE DOUCHEBAGS! A month and a half ago, I signed up for their "farm fresh to you" service. From the beginning, I felt that I should have been getting more out of their "regular" box for my money. Not only are all the items drastically overpriced, but most of their fruits are woefully small, very nearly stunted. Never before have I seen a smaller pomegranate! And for three dollars? Pretty much a rip-off. To top all this off, I received my box this morning, upon opening it the first thing I noticed was that the largest item in the box, a pumpkin, was half rotten. All the other items in the box were piled on top of it, thereby contaminated with rotten pumpkin "goo." Of course I called their hotline to complain, I was first connected to one of their representatives, by the name of Eric. From the beginning, he was extremely patronizing to me, speaking to me as if I was the idiot here, and suggesting I just "rinse them off". I had to repeatedly state that the first thing I expect from such a service as theirs is QUALITY. Even in a run-of-the-mill grocery store, if I were looking at a display of fruits and one in the middle was rotten, I obviously would not buy anything from that display! I had to repeat this point several times, as Eric kept saying that 1. It wasn't their fault (even though I was paying for a "farm FRESH to you service) and 2. that nothing else was ruined, like I wasn't standing there looking at a pile of gooey, bad-smelling kale, carrots and beets. Let me ask you, would YOU just wash the ROT off your food? Or would you see the entire box as an unacceptable failing of quality? I know how I felt. After being patronized a while longer, I asked to speak to Eric's boss. I was passed on to a woman who I am quite sure was just another peon, unfortunately I do not remember her name. We proceeded to have the EXACT same conversation, demeaning tone and borderline insulting statements from her and all. After she offered to credit the cost of the pumpkin and nothing else, I had had enough. Goodbye Capay Farms, and good riddance! If you like low-quality produce at jacked up prices, with god awful customer service, I'm sure you'll disagree though! read more