Excellent option for CSA. The produce is very good, nice variety and plenty for the share I got (mini share). I also liked and appreciated the good and prompt communication. All in all I highly recommend them. Over the years, I had other arrangements: CSA, Full Circle... But Helsing is the best experience for me. read more

We've been really pleased with our CSA share from Helsing this year and will sign up with them again next year if we're still living in Olympia. We tried a different CSA last year (there are four local organic CSA options that deliver to my husband's workplace) and we much prefer Helsing. We like Helsing better because they have given us more variety, because we adore the fruit share, and because they have taken the time to provide good recipes. We signed up for the mini share and are hard pressed to keep up with what we receive every week! There are the two of us and we're vegetarians, yet we get so much from them every week that we can't eat it all before the next batch arrives. We freeze, can, or give away extra, it's that generous. The CSA we had last year from the different farm kept giving us the same things week after week--carrots, chard, potatoes--and we're really pleased that Helsing has so much changing variety. Sometimes we have only received something for a week or two and wish we could be getting it for longer! We LOVE the fruit share. Local organic fruit costs us high prices at the Oly farmer's market, but with the fruit share we are getting a great deal. The first few weeks are a little slow when only berries are ready, but after that we get a ton of stone fruit that is delicious and much more bang for our buck than at the farmer's market. For example, one week I was at the market and bought a container of cherries for about $15. A few days later my fruit share gave me the same amount of cherries plus several other pounds of fruit, all for $15 a week. Nice. We get peaches, nectarines, apples, berries, plums, pluots, etc etc We have tried a number of their recipes, and have been impressed. Someone has put a lot of effort into finding recipes that only use the seasonal ingredients that are actually tasty. Everything has been good, and a few have been excellent, such as the recipe for fennel with honey, goat cheese, etc --it's amazing. You can search their recipe database by ingredients. I appreciate that they never leave me hanging for ideas, since with every CSA you get exposed to both old and new ingredients and the recipe help is appreciated. read more

This is my first year with Helsing Junction Farm CSA. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but I decided to give it a try anyway based on the photos shown when ordering. I purchased a full season, large share and a fruit share. After a false start, I received my first distribution on June 17, 2015. While not disappointed with the vegetable share, the fruit shared was very small. Definitely not worth the $20 per week being charged. Granted, it's early in the season, but receiving only a half pint of blueberries and 2.5 pint of cherries was a bit disappointing. Hopefully, my experience will improve as the season goes on. If it does, I'll adjust my rating accordingly. read more

Helsing Junction Farm - Fruit share received 1st week - Fruits & Veggies Near Me - Rochester, Washington

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I pray they never change. No matter how big they get or who owns the place. In our third year, their customer service has been jaw-droppingly awesome. Oh, and their produce is always good, honest and as fresh as possible, save for actually living on the farm myself. Never missed an email or failed to return a phone call within 24hrs (I don't recall any such guarantee, its as if they just value professionalism and their customers...), never made us feel like we weren't their #1 customer, as I'm sure they do with all their shareholders. Our friends just started their small share this season, former CSA shareholders on the east coast, and they're blown away at the value and convenience. read more

I would probably give 3.5 stars if I could. I'm having rather mixed feelings about this CSA. We signed up for a 'mini share' and cheese share from the folks at Helsing Junction. After shelling out nearly a thousand dollars, the first weeks delivery didn't make it to us. We contacted the farm, and they mostly made it right by sending us 2 boxes the next week. Then a few weeks later, another shipment didn't make it due to a hail storm. We were told that because of this there would be 21 weeks of the farm share, instead of the planned 20. Great! Only now I've been notified that there will only be 19 weeks of delivery for an unknown reason... The packing lists theyve sent have also been inaccurate multiple times. I really wanted to love this CSA. The produce is of very high quality and on the weeks we did get a cheese share it was always delicious. I liked the variety of veggies, although I expected a little more fruit (the description of a mini share said there would still be fruit without the purchase of a 'fruit share', but we only got 2 watermelons the whole season). Everything was delicious, although not too reliable. We never knew what time the deliveries would come, and sometimes not getting the list of what was in our share until later on the same day it was being delivered... If you are a meal planner like myself, this created a bit of a challenge. We were willing to work with it considering we love the concept of community supported agriculture and wanted to buy farm direct, but logistically it didn't entirely work out for us. I understand that this is a small farm doing big things and that there is bound to be some changes that occur throughout the growing season, but I would have liked maybe a heads up that deliveries may not always be made and not to expect share content lists on a consistent schedule.. We're busy students and this had made our dinner plans over the past few months a little hectic. read more

Before writing this review I need to point out that I got CSA boxes in California for three years. I'm spoiled so take this all with a grain of salt. Helsing Junction is a true local CSA, which is great. We tried the big CSA around here during the winter and it was essentially a Safeway organic produce department in a box (in other words, lots of mediocre out of season produce from Mexico), so HJ being all in-season and locally grown is a big plus. The downside is that they are small and no doubt very restricted by climate and geography as to what they can grow. The contents of the box change very slowly and rarely compare favorably to what you could get from specialty local farmers at farmer's markets. I like that CSAs force you to use vegetables you might not normally use, but at HJ the lack of variety just means you'll be sick of chard and tomatillos and dill after months of getting them practically every week. Also worth mentioning the fruit. There's not much, just a small crop of strawberries and another small one of Asian pears, neither very good (the strawberries were overripe and the pears flavorless). Pretty sad that there's no stone fruit given how well it grows in this state. The price is fine for the ample amount of produce you get. All in all we were content with the quality of HJ's produce box but not really wowed at any point. If we were going to do a CSA again we would probably choose HJ. Instead we're going to stick to going to the farmer's market every week next year, where we expect to spend a similar amount but not be burdened with a pound of tomatillos or grocery store quality sandwich tomatoes every week for two months. read more

LOVE LOVE LOVE Helsing Junction Farm! I live on the cold wet coast of WA and it's a struggle to get my garden to produce anything. The grocery store may have some organic foods available but who's to say its not coming from another state, let alone another country! Becoming part of this CSA has made a huge impact on my family. Every week we open our box of goodies and it feels like Christmas! The veggies are so fresh and the fruit is so sweet! I work and live in this isolated little town, so to have Helsing Junction Farm drive all the way out here to provide my family with fresh ORGANIC LOCAL PRODUCE IS PRICELESS and MUCH APPRECIATED! This will be our 4th summer being members and will continue to be as long as we can! The employees have always been so friendly and nice and I get quick responses from my emails if I have any questions. The first boxes of the 2017 boxes begin next week and we are very excited! The farm also hosts an "Open Farm" day in Sept which we look forward to each year! I love how I get to take my son and show him exactly where our food is coming from and he gets to pick it himself and bite into juicy tomatoes and pick fresh basil. He will learn the importance of sustainable farming and how important it is to support our local organic farmers. Thank you for everything you guys do and keep up the good work!!! read more

I have had a WONDERFUL experience using this CSA. I was a customer this past summer and a summer a few years back. The produce is delicious. I love the weekly newsletters they send with updates on how things are going on the farm. I especially love the recipes they send each week that accompany the veggies in the box. Other CSAs I've belonged too don't put as much effort in communication or recipes. But I've found them super helpful to introduce me to ways to prepare veggies I'm not as familiar with. I've loved the fruit share, it can be hard to reliably get good organic fruit, if you can't get to the farmers market each week, and I love knowing I've got that covered. The donut peaches were absolutely devine. I've gone down to visit the farm once as part of the open farm day, which was a blast. It feels good to really know where your food is coming from. They do experiment with new varieties and some times these work out better than others from year to year. But they do a really good job of communicating this in their newsletters and it just helps to emphasize that the veggies are coming from a farm not a factory. read more

We have been members of Helsing Junction Farm fifteen plus years. I can honestly say that our families health is what it is, because of the great farm food that we have the pleasure of receiving over the years. I love the surprise of seeing what is fresh each week. The freshness of the food awesome, The newsletters and recipes are great. And "knowing" the folks who grow the food makes my day. Even when we grow some food in our own garden, Helsing Junction Farm is a deep rooted family tradition that adds to our lives. And besides all of this, buying local just makes good sense. read more

Helsing Junction absolutely provides the highest quality produce, with the most variety of veggies and options of any CSA we could find in Washington State. We love the slow transition of veggies through the season and the fruit share (grown by small orchardists in Okanogan County) is a heavenly addition. We are really excited about the new additional locally grown mushroom share, and the opportunity to buy pastured, organic chicken! This CSA is awesome, we really love being members of Helsing Junction Farm. read more

This is by far the best CSA in the area! This is my eighth season with Helsing Junction Farm and every year I am more impressed with the quality of the shares and everything that comes along with it. They have almost fifty drop-sites quick and easy, every week we receive a beautiful newsletter that clues us in to what's happening on the farm and gives us fabulous new recipes to help make the best of everything we get, the farmers are good people, and their produce is in a class of its own. We get such a great variety with all the staples and then the extras that make cooking more fun and interesting (salsa from tomatillos, taro root soups, goat cheese and golden beet salad). We've found that having the share each week is not only a commitment to eating healthier and feeling much better overall but also to sustainability and supporting small businesses :) We really couldn't be happier! read more

This has been my second year using HJ and I should say that their customer service level and the variety of produce has gone way down. I think they took on more customers than they could handle and it shows. While the produce has been grown locally, the variety is really poor. And although they claim that they give you more than you paid for, I would rather them sticking with the promised variety and content of your weekly box. Somehow, instead of radishes and other very good things, I would find fennel, for weeks! I would understand staples like potatoes, lettuce, onions... I made a mistake of signing up for large box, hoping for more variety, but it was just the same week after week. One more point: they offer fruit share. Ok, I signed up for that. When I saw that I would have 4 pounds of pluots (with their little note saying that those would keep in the fridge very nicely), I was very puzzled to see 6 pluots in the box. When I weighed them at home, it was 1 pound 12 ounces. Apples - instead of 2 pounds, I received 1 pound 9 ounces. And don't you dare to complain. I just did and I received a very rude e-mail saying that they were disheartened by my e-mail and that they discontinued my membership and returned me the money for the left over weeks. Well, nothing shows a stressed-out, pissed off woman better than that e-mail. I thought I was in business with the farm, apparently CSA, in their opinion, has to come with their piece of mind too. No thanks, I am taking my money elsewhere. read more