Garden Sweet — Attraction in Fort Collins

My partner and I have been on a quest for the perfect CSA, and this year we tried Garden Sweet. Sharing our experience to help other CSA questers make the best decision for their needs! :)

This CSA is unique in that, instead of receiving a preselected assortment of produce every week, CSA members basically receive gift cards good for anything at the Garden Sweet farm stand. The membership also comes with a free pick-your-own flower cup every week (availability depending) and access to pick-your-own berries (particularly great this year since berry pick-your-own access was limited to members only for much of the year).

This originally sounded like a great setup, but it turned out to not be for us. It might work great for you, though!

The real value in this setup is the access to the pick-your-own. If you take full advantage of the flowers and free berry-picking access (note: the berries aren't free, but you're saving on field admission!), then the CSA is great value! It's also definitely worthwhile if you just have the money to spare and want to support a local farm. But if you're looking for a more "traditional" CSA experience, this probably isn't the option for you. CSA members still pay normal farm stand prices (about 2–5 times higher than prices elsewhere, depending on whether you tend to shop at a grocery store or farmer's market), which meant that each of our visits easily came to $50 (and still required us to supplement with farmer's market visits), and the gift card setup ends up feeling limiting more than anything, knowing that any unused balance simply expires at the end of the season. It was very difficult to balance between overspending and making sure we used up our whole balance, and ultimately, we would have found our visits to the farm stand less stressful if we had just paid as we went.

So, in some...

The CSA is great if you: • Are super into pick-your-own flowers and want to save a bundle on your flower-picking visits (book early if you want to go on weekends!) • Are super into berry picking and want access to berry picking • Really love Garden Sweet and want to support them financially!

The CSA might not be for you if you: • Are looking for a more "traditional" CSA • Want a CSA that covers all your produce needs for the summer • Get stressed out by gift cards 😂

(Note for full disclosure: One potential benefit of the CSA that I CANNOT speak to is events. The site mentions events as a CSA benefit, but we got fewer than 7 total emails from Garden Sweet over the course of the season—maybe the rest went to spam!—so if events took place this year, we didn't hear about them or attend. I'm sure they were amazing and adorable, though!)

Thanks for the fun summer, Garden Sweet. You've given me an obsession with Pom Pom lettuce that I'll always be...

I had such high hopes for this place, but my experience was completely ruined by the behavior of who I believe to be the owner. We were genuinely enjoying ourselves, taking pictures and exploring the grounds, when she became very guarded about us going into the dahlia section. At first, we didn't think anything of it until we we asked about it and she began behaving in a passive-aggressive and gatekeeping manner, blocking our path while still allowing others through. When my friend politely asked if we could enter, she responded with, "If your friend puts on some more clothes, I'll let you go over there." I was shocked. I was wearing shorts - nothing inappropriate - and certainly nothing that warranted being publicly shamed or denied access to something we paid for. She continued to criticize me, saying I wasn't dressed "family friendly" and that she didn't want her child seeing someone dressed "like that" even though I had doing my best to adjust my shorts all day and doing my best to stay respectful.

Her comments were judgmental, body-shaming, and completely unprofessional - especially for someone representing their own business. Instead of creating a welcoming and inclusive space, she made me feel uncomfortable, targeted, and unwelcome - all because of how my body looked in shorts. I left feeling humiliated and deeply disappointed. This could have been a beautiful experience, but the energy and attitude from the owner were hostile and discriminatory. I truly hope she reflects on how she treats paying guests - especially women - and rethinks what it means to create a safe, respectful environment for...

I used to really love this farm - until this year.

I purchased an advance CSA membership for $300, entitling me to $300 worth of purchases and free flowers (one bouquet per week for the month of July only). I kind of thought the free flower offer was a little bogus given my experience last year (they give you a very shallow cup, which makes it incredibly difficult to gather the kinds of long stems that are easy to arrange) but I already had some loyalty, so I went ahead.

I was absolutely dismayed by pricing at the farm early season this year. Prices were twice local large stores. I could have gotten over that I guess, but there was absolutely ZERO membership discount despite the fact that I invested early - which is completely foreign to the CSA model. I spent my CSA dollars on beautiful plants and peonies, but adding it up at paying 2x the cost for the same quality, I paid $150. When I went to the farmer's market today, I bought two very expensive bouquets for $18 each ($36). Just one of those would have been what I could have picked at Garden Sweet - and just as fresh, beautiful and local. So the extra $150 in no way is justified by 5 bouquets at most that I can get elsewhere for $90. I'm really disappointed in Garden Sweet's current pricing model and I have to say I'm done. I think I might have $5 left to spend. Not even sure...