Bull Run Mountain Vegetable Farm

Our first year as a member of Bull Run Mountain Farm CSA has been a thorough disappointment. We were so unhappy with it we stopped picking up the allotments each week as the quality and quantity were not acceptable. Most of the vegetables we received were eaten-​through by bugs, under-​developed or nearly rotten. We ended up using it mostly as compost material. We were very disappointed with this experience and would advise against joining this CSA.
We frequent a variety of local farmers markets and understand the type and quality of vegetables available through local Virginia farms during the summer season. We had very realistic expectations and were prepared for CSA vegetables to be less than perfect; maybe even less than farmer’s market quality. Unfortunately, Bull Run Mountain Farm CSA failed to meet even these minimal expectations. Over the course of the summer we received only a handful — literally a handful — of vegetables that were able to be served as part of a meal. The rest were in sad shape or so paltry that they could not even constitute a meal.
Our membership was for a «Bunch», which the website defines as a full share, or ½ bushel. If, according to the website, a bushel is enough to feed a family of vegetarians for a week, the full share sounds like a lot of food. It did not turn out that way. I cannot imagine a few bunches of mustard greens, a single rotted cauliflower head, a thyme plant, two unripe cherry tomatoes, a dozen very small fingerling potatoes, and a single stubby cucumber feeding a family for more than a single (not too appetizing) meal, let alone multiple days. Often, herbs were provided in place of vegetables. While appreciated in small quantities, the herbs did not supplant the quantity of vegetables we believed were part of a full vegetable share. We did receive some large, fresh zucchini in quite good shape, but that zucchini was the only vegetable provided of reasonable quality.
The farmer’s weekly emails were filled with grandiose predictions of incoming vegetables but always included warnings of possible disappointment; stories of coyotes eating vegetables, slugs attacking plants, and rain ruining seedlings made us wonder what is happening at this farm. It comes off as witty and refreshingly honest at first. After a few weeks, though, you start to realize those warnings are just preemptive excuse-​making.
It is easy to make excuses that some consumers have too high of expectations or do not understand the process of CSAs. I would caution against assuming that any negative posting reflects an unreasonable expectation. We were fully prepared; yet, in all aspects Bull Run Farm CSA was a disappointment. I would highly recommend against it.

This was our first experience with a CSA. We are always looking for healthier food sources and routinely shop farmers markets. I researched the website carefully and went into it with the perception of eyes wide open.
We were not prepared for the disappointing consistently low quality of the vegetables. To be frank, at half way through the season we have found that we throw away much more than we eat. I don’t mind having to clean the vegetables and don’t mind the model of getting what is in harvest.
However we have found that the quality of the vegetables are far below what we would consider edible. They are mostly wilted and eaten through by insects. We have thrown away more than we have consumed. We signed up for an egg share, however two weeks our eggs were simply forgotten. Some of the fruit is tasty, however frequently has over ripe fruit included in the delivery.
Quite frankly, if a farmer can bring quality vegetables to a farmer’s market, why can’t the same come from a CSA?
This was an experiment for us and would definitely not repeat or recommend it.

Until I’d had something to compare it to, I didn’t know what was reasonable to expect.
I now belong to the CSA at Willowsford Farm, not far from Bull Run, so I think this is a fair comparison.
In contrast to Bull Run CSA, Willowsford:
— delivers vegetables and herbs, freshly picked, not harvested and mostly wilted
— fruits and vegetables with some dirt clinging, not caked in mud
— fruits and vegetables appear to have been picked by hand or harvested gently, not raked through a field
— they are pre-​divided and placed in individual boxes, so there is no question as to how much you receive versus others arriving
— the Willowsford staff is friendly.
So, there you go — one persons experience.

I’ve been a shareholder for 5 seasons now, and this farm seems to get better every year. The variety is pretty good: I’ve gotten quite a few veggies I’d never tried before. Leigh scaled back the number of shares last season so members would get more each week. I get a 1-​person share and some weeks I get more than I can eat. I’ve also gotten egg and fruit shares and they’re gracious plenty for one person. The honey and herb/​flower seedlings are also a nice touch.
Leigh invites shareholders (and sometimes even the newsletter subscribers) out to the farm a few times each year for free veggies or eggs. He’ll even take you on a tour of the farm so you can see where everything comes from. In the fall, he does a cider pressing with apples from nearby orchards. You haven’t lived til you’ve had cider right out of the press.
As for Leigh himself, I think he has the patience of a saint sometimes. A lot of people join the CSA and — being used to grocery-​store produce — are shocked (shocked!) to see that the corn has a worm in it, or the lettuce is dirty, apples have spots on them, or there’s chicken poop on an egg. It’s a small organic farm, people! That means no pesticides, antibiotics, food-​grade waxes or washing. The veggies get picked that morning, are put in boxes and brought to the pick-​up point as-​is. It’s how it would look if you went to the field and picked it yourself.
If your main concern is price or shiny clean veggies, no CSA will make you happy, let alone Bull Run Mtn Farm. Just go to Costco and enjoy their economies of scale. But if knowing exactly where you veggies come from is a priority, Bull Run Mtn is a good investment.

I had just signed up for this CSA when Leigh, the farmer pulled the vegetables from the ground and put them in a container for me. I ask you, DOES IT GET FRESHER THAN THAT?
This guy’s got a serious green thumb. Have you seen him go into his chicken run? The birds all want to be around him. He clearly has a thing… a gift with animals. He has a big rescue dog that guards the place, barked at me, but that’s what it’s supposed to do, right?
Maybe I never tasted truly fresh vegetables before, because these had more flavor than any I had ever put in my mouth. I’ll be a customer for a long time to come.
(As regards the negative reviews, they seem to be somewhat outdated.)

Mreh. We had a 2 person farm share for 2011, and were pretty disappointed. The produce was often medium-​to-​low quality and the quantities were surprisingly small. Certainly, we could have taken our $ 30/​week to the farmers market and gotten a lot more produce of a lot higher quality. By a long shot. Maybe it was a bad year for the farm, but based on my experience I would not recommend this farm share.

This is my second year with Bull Run and I am looking forward to this year’s weekly supply of fresh, organic vegetables, fruit and eggs. Some of the reviews complain about having to take what is grown rather than selecting what you want like a market. That’s the big difference in a CSA — rather than planning your meals and then buying the food (regardless of whether it’s in season in your area) you have to plan your meals around what is fresh locally. Leigh always sends an email in advance so you have some notice about what you are getting. I enjoyed finding new recipes (including the many delicious ones provided on the Bull Run website) and coming up with new meals. I find the prices fair, especially for the two-​person share I have. An added bonus is the occasional trips to the farm where you can see exactly how your food is grown.

SO I was pretty disappointed with this CSA. The share size every week was tiny compared to the price we paid. I definitely could have gotten twice as much produce at a local farmers market. Also I was not impressed with the quality or variety of vegetable we received. The vegetables did not last more then 2 days in the refrigerator, which leads me to believe, they were not very fresh. In addition the flavor was far from exceptional. Also the vegetable themselves were tiny. My friend’s mom, in her tiny suburban garden, grew cucumbers and eggplants at least twice the size of the ones we got from Bull Run farm. They often ran out of items each week, the good stuff, and they made up for it by giving us more weedy greens and pac choi. I feel pretty burned by this CSA.

There are a lot of CSAs in the Washington region and I urge you not to pick Bull Run Farm.
I ordered a peck for 2009 and was extremely disappointed. The produce was of average quality and the portions were extremely meager. Frankly, for the money I paid I could have gotten twice as much produce at any of the local farmers market.
I also agree with one of the other reviewers who said Leigh was something of a smug bastard. I buy enough farm raised vegetables to know the hit you take from buying organic/​local. Bull Run produce generally wasn’t disgusting but it wasn’t anything to write home about either.
And as a final pet peeve, I have to comment on the horrendous emails Leigh would churn out every week. Each week Leigh would compose free from poetry about the going ons about the farm. I remember such iinsightful comments as «I saw Mr. Bear today wandering around the fileds» or «Mr. Rabbit seems to be getting mighty hungry!» Who freakin cares. I signed up for good quality produce not shoddy poetry.
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As a first-​time CSA’er I was disappointed with my experience with Bull Run. Don’t get me wrong, the farm owners are very nice and they host a variety of events at the farm throughout the growing season, which is nice. The fruits and veggies were always fresh and of good quality. But I was disappointed in the quantity provided in the share given the price. I did the family share, which was quite pricey, and chose to pickup at the farm each week. But it always seemed like there wasn’t enough to go around, and the share never lasted a week (and frankly, I’m the big veggie eater in the family, the kids and my ex rarely touched it). So despite spending a lot of money on the share I still made my weekend rounds to the local farmer’s markets. I love the idea of the CSA but if you’re a big veggie eater it may not be worth the money for you. This year I’m back to the farmer’s market every weekend, where I’m getting more for my money and can choose what I want.

I subscribed to a veggie share for the 2008 year and signed up for a «peck», which is designed for one person. At $ 360 for 19 weeks that comes out to be around $ 19 a week. As someone who has subscribed to CSAs before I was disappointed. The share was about half the size I was expecting and some of the vegetables like the salad greens looked like dried weeds. Other veggies like the eggplant came out to be miniature in size and with a «peck» you are only allowed one! To be fair some of the other veggies like the butternut squash were a good size and fresh and tasty.
The CSA’s I’ve subscribed to before were in California so maybe they produce fresher veggies at a cheaper cost and perhaps my expectations are out of line with the Virginia CSAs? Maybe I shouldn’t compare the two regions, but some of the California CSAs also had a trial period that allowed you to sample their veggies for a few weeks before committing to an entire season. For Bull Run and possibly others, you have to commit for the whole 19 weeks and can’t get a refund if after a few weeks you change your mind about wanting the subscription.
I think I’d rather go to a farmer’s market and have the ability to pick out what I want, I think the cost would come out the same if not cheaper and I have the ability to choose the freshest veggies.