I’m a big fan of buying organic produce and going to farmers markets. In fact, our weekly produce at home comes from the farmers market in our area. When Farmbox Direct contacted me about their new subscription service and asked if I’d be willing to review a trial Farmbox, I was more than delighted to do so. Two days later, I received this box.
What’s Farmbox Direct? Three words: Organic Produce Delivery. It’s a new subscription service that delivers seasonal organic produce, which comes in three box sizes – Small ($36.95), Medium ($47.95) and Large ($58.95). You can find more information here. The Farmbox is delivered straight to your home, which is very convenient for those who are too busy to visit their local farmers’ markets. Each box can be filled with your favorite organic produce. In case you want to customize your order, their website lists the weekly produce. So far, the service is available in the east coast from NY to DC.
After opening the box, a letter greeted me explaining the mystery of the “The Cheesecake Factory” liners (see below). Any effort to reduce carbon footprint earns brownie points in my books.
This is how it looked like inside the box.
The trial box I received had 1 acorn squash, 1 carnival squash, 5 white hailstone radishes, 1 portobello mushroom, 1 cucumber, a bunch of green beans, 1 beet, 1 garlic, 2 shallots, 1 lemons, 1 pomegranate, 1 pear, 1 grapefruit, a box of kiwi berries and 1 apple. The mushroom was wrapped in paper and still had traces of soil after we opened it, which is how some produce from the local farmers market looks like.
There was even a nice note from Farmbox Direct Founder, Ms. Ashley Tyrner. You’re welcome!
We almost missed the Hope Springs Farm Organic Havarti Cheese at the bottom of the produce.
On the same day that I got the box, I roasted the carrots, radishes, shallots and garlic as a side dish. Roasted fresh produce is just sweetly flavorful! I’m still deciding what to do with the acorn and carnival squashes.
I didn’t request a custom box and just accepted whatever produce they sent my way. I had no idea what produce was inside, so opening it was like a gift! If I did create my box, it would include asparagus, cherry tomatoes, cauliflower, garlic, green beans, bell peppers, kale (love ’em!), radish, rainbox chard, spinach, spring mix and ginger. I wouldn’t include herbs because I’ve got my little herb garden.
Now here’s my take on Farmbox Direct.
- It’s convenient. It’s a good thing they contacted me about this service. Since it’s now fall, our local farmers market will be closing soon, but I’d still like to get organic and locally-sourced produce. Having it delivered at home makes it way better. This is definitely an option I’m considering now.
- It’s fresh. To be accurate, it’s fresher than what you get from grocery stores. It might not be picked the morning when I got the box because the box traveled, but this box traveled a shorter distance than the ones in grocery stores.
- It’s customizable. Not all of us love beets or some other produce, so the option to customize a box is great. Of course, check the produce currently available before customizing your box.
There you have it, my take on Farmbox Direct. If you’d like to know more, hop on over to their website.
Disclaimer: Farmbox Direct contacted me to review their Farmbox. I received a trial box in exchange for writing a review on the blog. All opinions are my own.
Sounds like a fantastic idea! Kind of an organic Omaha Steak idea but for fresh veg!
You’re so right! I didn’t think of that.
Sounds like a good idea for folks who are into cooking! During the school year, IDK if I could do all the veggie prep, though. I often find myself taking the “easy way out.”
The convenience of having produce delivered at home won brownie points with me, especially since winter will be here soon.
It’s a shame that this company only sends their best to someone who is going to write a review about them. I have tried them twice and have been very disappointed. They did not send me fresh vegetable, as a matter of fact, I had to throw out the tomato whi had black spots on it and was shriveled. Two ears of corn came…. They were both dried and shriveled with black kernels of no kernels. I suggest people read the reviews on Yelp. The company has refused to refund my money, will only offer credit….. What is so hard to understand that I don’t do business with companies who commit fraud and this is fraud.
I’m so sorry to hear about your negative experience with them. I hope you’ll get this matter resolved.
I’ve used Farmbox Direct for 2 months now and they are terrible to deal with. Out of the 4 boxes I’ve received, 3 have had a significant number of bad items, but they refuse to refund a fair amount. As an example, the two avocados I received were hard as rocks and I think partially frozen from being next to the ice. I could not cut them open for almost 6 days they were so hard. When I did, one was black inside. They refused to refund because anything reported over 24 hours from shipment arrival does not qualify for a refund. The last ox I received, the ice was totally melted and the contents were very hot (95 in FLA). Almost everything was bad and they offered a $10 refund on a $48 dollar box. Now they won’t return my e-mails. I recommend looking elsewhere.