Lane Farms — Attraction in Goleta

Last night I bought a Christmas tree at Lane Farms, but when I got the thing home I realized that the staff only left 1" of trunk on the bottom. I pulled out my handsaw, but after 2 hours of fighting with it, I drove the beast back to the farm and asked them to put on their own stand (i.e. plastic bucket and two pieces of plywood, ~$.85).

I wasn't upset, but when they asked me to pay for the stand I protested, noting that the previous cut was not functional with any at-home stand (it required ~ 3" of chainsawing lower branches by their staff). But the staff woman kept saying, "If you don't tell us to cut off branches we won't. We don't know what you're going to do with it when you get home." Um.....what did she think I was going to do with it? Make wreaths? Mulch my yard?

After 3 minutes of arguing I gave up and paid for the stand to just get the ordeal over with and salvage the night for my kid. Then, as I was quietly leaving (I'd thrown my back out, so certainly wasn't making trouble), the woman behind the counter yelled after me, "Try to have a nice Christmas!?"

Seriously!? I was shocked and honestly hurt. If a single mom has to drag her 100 lb tree back to the lot 2 hours later throw her a bone and don't make her pay $17 for your .85cent plastic bucket. I'm all for paying more for local, but not if that means dealing with staff that are incompetent, self-righteous, and cruel.

*To be clear, this is NOT about the daily farm stand. The staff there are always really kind and chill. The Christmas farm staff could use some...

Looks lovely. Wish the staff were more welcoming.

I’m new to the area. I was invited to a BBQ by my new neighbors. I love supporting local businesses and thought it might be a quick and enjoyable way to pick up some farm fresh produce to bring and get to know the folks there as I planned to become a regular customer.

I parked out front because someone else had just pulled out.

Mask on, I picked up a basket, ready to shop some beautifully displayed items (clearly not all local), when one of the proprietors stopped me at the door and informed me the gravel strip in front between the fence and paved road wasn’t actually a parking spot but a sidewalk and I had to move my car. I pointed out there was no signage and asked if I could finish shopping first. I was asked to move my car right away, so I did...and drove across the street to Ralph’s, where I was welcomed at the door and got what I needed without breaking any unwritten rules.

Im excited to have discovered the Sunday farmers market. There are many organic choices at very fair prices and I’m able to get what I need for the week from a variety of...

A very lovely place to visit in Santa Barbara — the whole setting is adorable and used to be one of my favorite spots every year. Unfortunately, the experience this time was really disappointing. My friend and I were simply trying to take some photos, but one staff member kept watching us and accusing us of posing. We even checked their rules and didn’t find anything we were violating. It felt uncomfortable, and honestly, we couldn’t help but wonder if it was because we were the only Asian visitors in the field. Such a shame, because it used to be such a welcoming and...