Kristen – yes, the toaster oven is a disaster! I highly recommend the Merrick Farm – it’s great.

Hi Angela,

The rest of the season at Merrick Farm was good. There were some agricultural problems that hit many of New Jersey’s (and the East Coast’s) farms which reduced the overall yield of certain crops, but I have to say that I was very impressed with the food that we received. The cucumbers were tasty and delicious, the eggplants were excellent though they spoiled quicker than the chemical-filled ones at the grocery stores, and the tomatoes had a good taste to them.

If I wind up staying in this part of the state, then I will likely join the Merrick Farm again next year. The people are nice as are Juan and Susan – the folks who run the place. I do have to say that I was a little shocked that they expected everyone to put in some time working on the farm. I understand that this is a part of the process of a CSA farm, but I thought that by paying for my share I would have been exempt from having to put some additional time in. Overall, though, it wasn’t that bad. Because of my schedule I was really only able to do a little bit of work on Saturdays during pickup and all it really amounted to was pulling up some extra potatoes for the rest of the folks. It actually is kind of fun.

Good luck with your decision!