I went to Harvey's Farm last week with a friend who was visiting from out of town to pick raspberries. We usually go to Tougas Farms in Northboro, but they're closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Even though Harvey charges a $3 picking/admission fee to pick their fruits in addition to the price per pound, we decided to go because it's in a convenient location and Tougas was closed. I had a positive experience, even though the woman who works there (possibly the owner) doesn't know how to properly handle raspberries, she throws your pickings into a plastic bag and ties it up after she weighs them. We ended up with raspberry compote by the time we got home. I decided to bring another friend there today who likes raspberries. Much to our surprise, the people were completely rude and ridiculous. The guy (perhaps the owner) accused my friend of sampling too many of his raspberries, but initially made comments in a joking tone, so we weren't sure he was serious. Then, he got dramacidal about it, and told her she was robbing him and had eaten too many, and implied that he hopes she gets sick for eating too many without washing them. He told her she had to go home and never to come back, even though we had paid the admission fee, and my friend didn't sample an unreasonable amount. He was completely rude and unprofessional. When I went to pay for our raspberries, the woman (same one as last week), checked us out as usual. But then she made a comment to my friend asking whether she was going to pay for the ones she ate. So I asked, are we not allowed to sample a few, it's pretty normal at other orchards and when you go fruit picking. They probably already factored that into the admission fee. She claims that's the pruning fee for the fruit bushes, and said she was told my friend ate a lot, and we're expected to pay what we thought was reasonable for the amount she ate. I didn't pay any extra because I thought it was absolutely absurd. I don't expect to be watched by the orchard patrol during what is supposed to be a relaxing outing, and accused of ridiculous nonsense. My friend and I probably had the same amount of samples the week before today, the only difference is the friend from last week was not a minority. So go to Harvey if you want to be accused of sampling too many fruits while picking, and if you want mashed fruit by the time you get home, I'm certainly not going back there again!
Pros: Convenient location, nice fruit selection
Cons: Absolutely rude service
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