Fresh Gardens

We signed up for a tour with Farmer Bob through Groupon. .A party of 6 with a box that he gave us to fill up with star fruit ! We honestly had such a great time! Farmer Bob is so knowledgable. My son who is a vegan, was really inspired and got some great tips from him. Farmer Bob does this to give back to the community. Has to be so because the time spent and the fruit given exceeded our expectations for what we paid. Thank you again Farmer Bob! Great Service

It’s great star fruit and longan season and Bob is absolutely knowledgable about them. Love his dogs Oreo and Lucky. Extremely friendly and sweet. Lucky is probably pregnant and she loves to lick. Bob has another five or six rescue dogs in his yard. You can tell he loves them as much as he loves the farm. The farm is huge, with different trees scattered around. Longan and starfruit seem to grow well approximate each other. Eventually we got over 15 pounds of starfruit, they are succulent, I can live on them for an entire week! Bob is a very generous guy. Highly recommend for any fruitarian! One recommendation would be provision of some tools to help reach the fruit on top. There is one ladder though. My mom was talking about the possibility of some free range chickens in the farm, lol, just an idea.

I purchased a voucher from
. I will admit, when I got there, it wasn’t exactly what I expected. It is not a farm, it is Bob’s land where he grows his own trees. Yes, they have 5 very aggressive rescue dogs on the property, but once you get out of your vehicle, they lick you, jump on you, and smell you. They are like guard dogs. Farmer Bob was so polite and was nice enough to come and get my husband, kids and myself out of the car once he got there because we were too afraid to get out due to the dogs. He introduced us to many different fruits and was very knowledgeable about his craft. Just a word of advice, it is a walking tour, so come in sneakers, and pack lots of repellent. There are a lot of sandflies and mosquitoes out there due to the fruit. I came in a long dress and a pretty high pair of slippers. You may not want to bring young kids out there though as my 6 year old complained the minute we began the tour and I had to take him to the car halfway through it, and so I missed out on quite a bit. My only advice to Farmer Bob would be to do something about the dogs, because there is no telling how they may react to certain people. Just chain them up so that way everyone feels comfortable and safe when exiting their vehicles, and so that we do not have to worry about stepping in dog poop throughout the tour. Please do not drive into the property, just park to the left of the gate and wait inside your vehicle until Bob arrives and he will gladly come get you. We learned so much about the trees and fruits. At the end of the tour, Bob gives you some of his fruits in a bag (not a basket like
says), along with some literature. My fruit was rotten, which made me really disappointed because they were fruits I really liked. It was a nice experience overall.

I purchased the groupon for farm fresh. My kids and I drove of an hour to get there expecting to visit a farm. When we arrived down the dirt road we found a house with at least 6 – 8 terrifying, aggressive dogs surrounding our car. When no one came out of the house, we waited in our car away from the dogs and called Farmer Bob, who said he would be there at the scheduled time. He arrived and drove in. He instructed us where to park but I opened the window slightly to tell him that we were not getting out of the car until the dogs were locked up. He told his that that was not happening because they were part of the tour. No where on the groupon did it say dogs would accompany us. Since both my kids are allergic to dogs and we were all terrified of the dogs we left. From what we saw, this is a tour of a guy’s back yard, not a farm. Save your time and money and don’t go. Honestly I think Groupon is getting too big and not being selective with their offers. Seems like anyone can get a groupon now for anything. Yes ti was $ 19 for the 3 of us to go which would have been fine but we did not get what was advertised. My kids enjoyed Knaus berry farm and Burr’s berry farm close by.

I had a really great time with Farmer Bob. I had called in advance a couple times to find out when the tours would be and every time he was great about letting me know when they would be. How he got into farming and his passion for his farm was inspiring. He was very nice to me. At the end we got dragon fruit, star fruit, and some other fruits that tasted great! I

I bought a Living Social coupon to tour Fresh Gardens and called them to make an appointment on a Thursday at 2:00 pm. When we arrived there, it was on a dirt road with a steel gate and a large dog barking at us. We didn’t feel comfortable going through the gate while the dog was barking and no one coming to the door.
I called the number I was given and, this time, no one answered the phone or came to the gate. I waited about a ½ hour, and after repeatedly calling, gave up and went home.
Living Social eventually gave us a refund, but I would recommend that people not waste their time. There were no other cars parked on the street so, maybe he didn’t get enough people to start a tour. But it was rude to make an appointment with us and then not respond.

If you live in the area I would definitely recommend doing it once. You will learn some things on farming business in the Redlands, and also maybe see some trees you’ve never heard of before. We got a pretty good box of fruit (carambola, green papaya, dragonfruit and mamey) since this was the lowest season.

I have not been to the farm, but I have ordered fresh fruit from Farmer Bob at Fresh Farms. The fruit is amazing and reading these reviews I am even more excited to be supporting a small operation like this. Bob offers fruits that are hard to find in my part of the country (Texas) and ships for free. I will gladly continue to support small farms rather than give my money to grocery chains where the farmer barely earns anything from it.

We bought a living social deal for a tour of the farm. My husband and I took my daughter and her friend. We were pleasantly surprised to be greeted by a welcome table with a spread of exotic fruits to taste. Farmer Bob was very welcoming, taking his time to tell us about all the trees on his farm, injecting a little humor from time to time to keep the group entertained. We look forward to trying the items in the fruit box we got to take home. We enjoyed this experience and would recommend it.

My boyfriend and I went to Fresh Gardens with a livingsocial deal my mother got us as a gift. I will admit when we first drove up, it wasn’t exactly what we were expecting but we both ended up being pleasantly surprised as the tour began. By the end we found it was a great experience. Now it’s not necessarily a farm you’d expect. But what Farmer Bob has done with his 5 acres of land is really neat. It was awesome to see how a non-​commercial farmer makes his living 40 minutes from where I live and find out where his fruit goes after it grows. Farmer Bob was extremely knowledgable and presented his grounds extremely well. He shows and educates you on all of the plants and trees that you see even if they aren’t looking too impressive at the moment, which I have to say I love his honesty on that aspect.
My biggest complaint were all the other people talking while I was trying to listen to Farmer Bob.
It’s a small tour however about an hour long, so if you’re driving out of your way to go out there, I’d strongly suggest making a day out of it and visiting other gems in the area as there are many (which I found out about that day as well: Shnelby Winery, Coral Castle, Fruit and Spice Farm)

We went on this garden tour over the weekend with our Living social coupon. What a fantastic deal!!! We toured this 5 acre farm of exotic fruits for about an hour and Farmer Bob gave a wonderful informative tour. He showed us pictures of what the farm looked like in 1998 when they acquired the land, and the grounds were pretty empty. What he and his family has accomplished in just 14 years is amazing, considering they had a few hurricanes that set them back. The farm is lush and beautiful with an assortment of amazing exotic fruits. When the tour was over we received a wonderful basket with 2 types of guava, dragon fruits, and hearts of palm. I had never had fresh hearts of palm (not the usual in a can and pickled) and did a stir fry as suggested and it was absolutely amazing. Also he offered u-​pick of the fruits in season, after the tour was over I got a bag full of starfruits for only $ 2. I went home that night and again with Bob’s suggestion I cut the star fruit in thick slices and grilled them and served it with salmon. I suggest anyone to take the tour of this farm, it is well worth it.

I felt I had to add a review reading some of the others. This was simple and authentic. The groupon was $ 12 for two people– so to the people below crying it was a waste of their money are either the cheapest people that ever existed or are just high maintenance. The guy who gave the tour was so nice and informative. It is a small scale farm but that just makes you appreciate it even more, it isnt some corporate run huge farm– this is the kind of local farm that grows crops that are sold locally and work directly with markets. Leaving the city and experiencing this was a very nice change for a Saturday morning, I would recommend it to anyone, especially when tropical fruits are in season during the early summer months. The fruit given at the end were perfect too! You can also go back after the tour and pick fruit for a few bucks a pound.

I’m trying to balance out the score. I’d actually give it a 4. It wasn’t half as bad as people say. My husband and I both love nature so we enjoyed it. We got there a bit late but joined the tour in progress. Farmer Bob showed us around his land. Yes it’s in his yard but it was full of cool trees. Depending on when you go you might find some fruit on or near the trees. He had no problem with us grabbing some as we went. While he spoke we were free to roam around if we wanted to. He answered all our questions, let us try some seasonal fruit and gave us a huge basket of guavas, mangos, and avocados. It was hot and the sun was intense. But we live in fl. What do you expect? If you are just going cause you want free fruit, don’t go. You’ll be bored and disappointed. But if you like trees, nature, and learning about planting, go. It’s worth it. Oh and don’t bring the kids. They whine and fuss because there is nothing for them. Lots of parents left early because the munchkins hated it. We came from aventura and after we left the tour we drove around and got great fruit from local markets (Robert is Here) and homes (people sold lots of fruit from their yards on the street) all in all it was a great experience. And the tour was a good start to the day.

We went with our nieces and had a great experience… was it hot yes but hello people we are in Florida… The tour was super interesting they got leaves for there mom and one for there dad… interesting leaves one is for medicines and the other one is used in men shaving cream… they picked flowers and all.
Thank you for the tour.

USed a LIving Social special for the fresh gardens tour. THe tour is mainly for the produce farmer Bob sells out of his acre of land. The majority of the trees are from one fruit similar to the lychee, actually sweeter than lychee! We got to taste some of it and other fruits around.
The tour was ok, it was hot and the mosquitos were out with a vengeance but neither of those things were Bob’s fault so I cannot hold that against him.
He did give everyone a fruit basket at the end and he patiently asnwered all our questions.
Would I recommend this tour??? Eh, only if you are an agriculture enthusiast or you have children interested in going…
As Robert S mentioned, my son and I hit Robert is Here right after to p ick up some fresh fruits and veggies.

I agree with Nathalie G., this place is not much of a «Farm» but more like a big back yard with some dead and alive fruit trees. Oh yea, he’ll show you his, dead, coffee tree.
When the «Tour» was over it seemed like everyone around me felt same way «ripped off» and we headed over to «Robert is Here».

This is going to sound like a negative review, but really, what this was; it was an experience. Our friends purchased a voucher for us through Living Social that offered a «C. Family Farm for two with fresh fruit basket.» From my experience with family farms in Homestead, typically there’s some legitimacy to it. They have a brand, they have a corporate office (on or just off the property). Especially places that do tours tend to have a staff employed, or more than one person on the property. So here’s the experience…
We had to drive out into the Redlands which isn’t such an unpleasant experience. I recommend it for all who have some sight seeing they’d like to do without the cost of getting out of town. The place was out on one of the dirt roads. When we get there, there are several cars parked in front of a house. We see a bunch of people gathered in front of the house so we naturally come to the conclusion that this must be the place. There’s even more confirmation once we see our friends who got there before us. So… the farm is a guy’s house. Our friends tell us later that when they got there the guy was still in his house and the people gathering were asking others if they were there for the tour, because they just weren’t sure this was the place.
As we’re walking towards the house, I’m telling my husband «this is how horror movies begin.» As it turns out our friends had the same thought. There’s a dog tied up in front of the house. Everyone is gathered around something and as I get closer I see a fruit platter that Farmer Bob is standing behind. Yes. His name is Farmer Bob. We get together with our friends and exchange glances and they immediately apologize. «For what?» I tell them. Whatever this turns out to be, it’s going to be a story I get to tell later. Let’s just go for the ride.
So Farmer Bob starts the tour and gathers us; a group of maybe 30+ people, with kids scattered within the group. He walks us toward the fields, or as I would like to call it, his backyard. We’re still just off to the side of the house but on the back side when he shows us the first tree. We can see pieces of a huge vacuum cleaner scattered on the lawn, including buckets and your typical unused lawn furniture underneath unkempt grass. The first tree was a lemon tree, one of several trees in his 5-​acre yard which in the Redlands isn’t farming land. At the lemon tree, the lemons looked a lot like oranges, but Farmer Bob insisted that they were lemons, even when someone contradicted him. Farmer Bob talked an interesting game but there were several key phrases he kept going back to during the «tour» that made me wonder if he was a legit farmer or a hobbyist. Phrases included:
«weather event»
«up and coming»
«very resilient tree»
My favorite sentence that came out of his mouth, «Legally if your neighbor’s trees and it’s fruit fall over your side of the fence, it’s yours.» And that’s when he started showing us his neighbor’s trees as if they were his.
After the lemon tree he showed us a stick in the ground. He said, «that’s coffee.» NOW. I don’t doubt that at one point there could have been a coffee bush there, or that for all intents and purposes he was trying to grow coffee. Mind you, that what WE saw, was a stick in the ground. And that became a running joke as we whiled away the 45 minute tour of a guy’s backyard. We spent most of our time making jokes. «Watch out for the coffee!» every time we saw a stick. There was one kid in the group who seemed to have a fear of snakes. We spent some time pointing out fake snakes. Yes. We’re horrible people. Yes. It was all in good fun. Yes. Our friends spent 24 bucks to do a tour of a guy’s backyard. And the only thing that was comforting about all this is that he managed to swindle a little over 30 more people.
When we got to the end of the five acres we could see into his neighbor’s yard who seemed to have it going. He was growing palm trees and coconut trees. I wanted to go see HIS backyard. We weren’t the only ones who were trying to make the most of this, mind you. I overheard a few people say, «I just want my fruit basket and then we’re outta here.» And that brings me to the fruit baskets!
So you know how United States Postal Service gives businesses and pretty much anyone who requests free small, medium and large Priority Mail shipping boxes? Our fruit baskets were fruit boxes lined with store ads and consisted of half a papaya, a bunch of tiny bananas, and 3 guavas. People ran to their cars the second that fruit box was in hand.
I looked up Fresh Gardens Inc. on sunbiz and he’s legit in the sense that he’s incorporated. At the end of the day, I can understand the guy’s trying to make a living. Personally I blame Groupon & Living Social for not doing their own research.
So there you have it. Fresh Gardens Inc. is a guy’s house. May God be with you.