The Fruit Basket - Velarde NM

Exceptionally rude young employees who follow select customers and make unnecessary and unwanted remarks on items. Must buy fruit as is without being able to asses for freshness or ripeness. Was looking to buy numerous varieties of syrups, jams, fruits, nuts, and ciders. Left without making a purchase after such a poor experience. Will not be returning.

Driving by we couldn't resist stopping here to get some fresh local fruit. We got some peaches, cherries, plums, and apricot fresh. Dried kiwi and peach. Indian fry bread mix, fajita and taco seasoning mixes, as well as some Anasazi beans and blue pozole along with a growler each of peach and cherry cider. Also they have some delicious honey sticks and artisan crafted sodas (we had the vanilla cream and it was refreshing and delicious). Everything tastes wonderful and was very fresh. The Velarde orchards are the oldest in the Sangre de Cristos mountain range and most is certified organic. While I highly recommend them, I would caution the buyer that they do not provide any itemized receipts so you'll have to keep track of the pricing (and quantities) on your own as some prices aren't clearly marked and many packaged items do not have weights listed. That's the only thing I'd recommend the sellers to fix. Also, they can be a bit higher in price, but please don't let that deter you from getting some of their amazing produce and products.

Horrible produce. I stopped for red chile and saw all the fruit. They hovered over me while I was selecting and made it very uncomfortable. I held a nectarine and said I was suprised to see them in October. She said, "Oh ya we have a late crop as we've had no frost". I said they seem a bit dry. She said "oh my mom eats them and they are very juicy." This was all a scam to sell old fruit. I was a sucker and believed her. They are disguisting hard as rock and turned moldy immediately. The plums are hard, taste spoiled, and aren't sweet. I am scared to try the apples. This place is a tourist trap. I fell for it but never again. She probably lied to about the chile being fresh. Shame on them. Trust me you can get better produce elsewhere. And yes I am local to Santa Fe and will spread the word.

We have been coming to this place for years. Their pies where the best in the past!! For the last two years I bought an apple and a cherry pie both pies tasted like gel or can filing. They need to stop selling the pies as HOME MADE!! THE FILING IS CAN FILLING the fruit is the only thing fresh. We will not stop by there every again. They don't want to to touch the fruit cause they don't want you to see how hard it is or over ripe it is. They are also very rude. The younger kids they have working are friendly but the others are Rude.

Just stop to buy some local fruit as I picked up some to look at, this woman snapped “ don’t squeeze the fruit” , I wasn’t. Just a bad experience. I bought nectarines and was wondering how they were already ripe and so large, since I have an orchard 10 miles away from there. They tasted like nothing.