Terms of Use and Sale

Version 2026-11-01. These Terms of Use and Sale ("Terms") are a binding agreement between you and Katama Creek Farm of Groton, Massachusetts ("Katama Creek", "we", "us"). They govern your use of katamacreek.com, our reservation list, forms and emails (together, the "Site"), and every reservation, order and purchase of our livestock, plants, mushrooms, garlic, bulbs, tubers and other goods ("Products"), whether made online, by email, at a pickup or through a store or club. By using the Site, joining our list, or reserving or buying a Product, you accept these Terms.

THE DISPUTES SECTION BELOW CONTAINS A BINDING ARBITRATION AGREEMENT AND A CLASS ACTION AND JURY TRIAL WAIVER. IT AFFECTS YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS.

1. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 to reserve or buy Products. You are responsible for the accuracy of your contact and shipping details.

2. Reservations and orders

Joining a list or placing a reservation is a request, not a guaranteed sale. Living Products are raised in small batches and availability, colour, size, sex and count vary; photographs are representative, not of the individual animal or plant you receive. We may accept, limit, substitute with a comparable Product, or cancel any reservation or order at any time, including for pricing errors, and our only obligation on cancelling is to refund what you paid for the cancelled item. Deposits are applied to your order and, unless we cancel, are non-refundable if you do not complete the purchase in the time we state.

3. Prices, payment and taxes

Prices are in U.S. dollars as shown when you order and may change at any time before we accept an order. You pay applicable taxes and shipping. Payment is processed by our third-party payment providers under their terms.

4. Shipping, pickup and risk of loss

We ship living Products only when we judge conditions suitable, and we may hold or reschedule an order for weather. You must be available to receive a live shipment on the scheduled delivery day and open it promptly. Title and risk of loss pass to you when we hand the order to the carrier or you collect it. Carrier delays, mishandling and weather are outside our control.

5. Live arrival policy (our only guarantee for livestock)

For shipped livestock, if an animal arrives dead, you may request a store credit or, at our option, a replacement or refund for that animal only, if you email us clear, unedited photos of the unopened bag with the dead animal within 2 hours after the carrier marks the package delivered. Shipping charges are not refunded. This guarantee does not apply to orders held at a carrier facility at your request, to deliveries refused or delayed because no one was available, to orders shipped at your insistence against our weather advice, or to animals after they are acclimated or placed in your tank. We do not guarantee the survival, health, breeding, colour, sex or behaviour of any animal after delivery, and plants, cuttings, tubers, bulbs, garlic and spawn are not guaranteed to grow, flower or yield.

6. Returns

Because Products are living or perishable, all sales are final except as stated in the live arrival policy or where the law requires otherwise.

7. Your responsibilities as a keeper and grower

You are responsible for: (a) knowing and following every federal, state and local law on owning, transporting, releasing and selling the Products where you live, including any rules on aquatic species and plant material; (b) never releasing any animal or plant into the wild or into any public water; (c) proper care, quarantine, water quality and tank compatibility; and (d) the health of your existing animals, plants and equipment, which we are not responsible for, including any disease, pest or contamination. Care information on the Site is general guidance only, not veterinary or professional advice, and conditions in your home may differ.

8. Food products

Mushrooms, garlic and other edible Products are agricultural products. Wash, store and cook them properly. Do not eat any Product you are not sure is food-grade, and do not eat seed garlic that has been treated, if we say it is. Some people are allergic or sensitive to mushrooms; eat a small amount first and stop if you react. Grow kits and spawn are for cultivation only; we are not responsible for misidentification of anything you grow or forage.

9. Stores and clubs

Wholesale, store and club orders are also subject to any quote or written terms we give you. You are responsible for the care of Products after delivery, for your own resale, labelling and permits, and for your customers.

10. Changes

We may change these Terms at any time by posting a new version with a new version date. Changes take effect when posted, except that a change to the dispute-resolution section does not apply to a dispute of which we already had written notice. Your continued use after a change is acceptance of it. We may change, suspend or discontinue any part of the Site at any time, with or without notice, and without liability.

11. Your submissions

You keep ownership of what you send us through forms, chat, email, uploads or reviews ("Submissions"). You grant us a worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable license to use, copy, store, process, adapt and analyze Submissions to operate, provide, secure and improve the Site and our products and services, to respond to you and to keep records, and to display any review or testimonial you submit with your first name and town. You represent that you have every right and consent needed to grant this license. Ideas, suggestions and feedback may be used by us for any purpose without obligation to you. Submissions are not confidential.

12. Communications

By giving us your contact details you agree that we may contact you by email, phone and text message about your inquiry, order or account and about our products and services, including by automated means. Consent to marketing texts is not a condition of purchase. Message and data rates may apply. You may unsubscribe from marketing email using the link in it, and reply STOP to opt out of texts. Chats and calls may be recorded and retained.

13. Acceptable use

You will not, and will not let anyone else: (a) violate any law or third-party right; (b) scrape, bulk-copy, frame or mirror the Site or its data, except as our robots.txt permits; (c) circumvent any access control, rate limit or security measure; (d) interfere with or overload the Site or introduce malware; (e) misrepresent your identity or affiliation; (f) submit anything unlawful, infringing, defamatory, obscene, or that you have no right to share; or (g) use the Site to build a competing product or service.

Automated access and data use. The Site's content, data, listings, prices, records and their selection and arrangement are our proprietary compilation. Except for ordinary viewing in a web browser, and crawling by search engines and AI crawlers that identify themselves and follow our robots.txt (including to index our public pages and to train or ground AI models on them), no robot, spider, scraper, crawler, headless browser or other automated means may access, collect, copy or monitor any part of the Site, or compile its content or data into a database, dataset or competing product, without our prior written license. Our robots.txt and any technical limits are part of these Terms, and ignoring or evading them (including by rotating IP addresses or user agents) is unauthorized access. You agree that automated collection in breach of this section causes us harm that is hard to measure, and that we may seek injunctive relief, recover our costs of detection and enforcement, and claim a license fee of not less than USD 0.10 per page or record collected, in addition to any other remedy.

14. Intellectual property

The Site and its content, software, designs, text, graphics, photographs, data compilations, logos and the Katama Creek Farm name and marks are owned by us or our licensors and are protected by law. Except for the limited rights these Terms expressly grant, no right or license is granted to you, by implication or otherwise. Third-party materials are used under their own licenses, which are credited where required.

15. Third-party services and links

The Site may link to or rely on third-party websites, platforms, payment processors, carriers, printers and marketplaces. We do not control them and are not responsible for their content, availability, terms, acts or omissions. Your use of them is at your own risk and under their terms.

16. Disclaimer of warranties

THE SITE, ITS CONTENT AND CARE INFORMATION ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE", WITH ALL FAULTS AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY STATED IN THESE TERMS. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, ACCURACY AND QUIET ENJOYMENT, AND ANY WARRANTY ARISING FROM COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE OF TRADE. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE OR ERROR-FREE, OR THAT ANY INFORMATION, ESTIMATE OR OUTPUT WILL BE ACCURATE, COMPLETE OR CURRENT. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain warranty exclusions, so some of them may not apply to you.

17. Limitation of liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW: (A) IN NO EVENT WILL KATAMA CREEK FARM, ITS AFFILIATES, OR ITS OR THEIR MEMBERS, MANAGERS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, AGENTS, LICENSORS OR SUPPLIERS (THE "KATAMA CREEK FARM PARTIES") BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, BUSINESS, GOODWILL, DATA OR USE, OR EMOTIONAL DISTRESS, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THE SITE, ANY PRODUCT OR ANY ORDER OR THESE TERMS, HOWEVER CAUSED AND UNDER ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THEIR POSSIBILITY; AND (B) THE TOTAL LIABILITY OF THE KATAMA CREEK FARM PARTIES FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THE SITE, ANY PRODUCT OR ANY ORDER OR THESE TERMS WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (I) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US IN THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM AROSE AND (II) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS (USD 100). These limits apply even if a remedy fails of its essential purpose. They do not limit liability for fraud, wilful misconduct, death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or any other liability that cannot be limited under applicable law.

18. Indemnity

You will defend, indemnify and hold harmless the Katama Creek Farm Parties from and against all claims, losses, liabilities, damages, fines, penalties, costs and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or related to your use of the Site, ANY PRODUCT OR ANY ORDER, your Submissions, your breach of these Terms, or your violation of any law or third-party right. We may assume exclusive control of the defense of any matter, at your expense, and you will cooperate.

19. Disputes: arbitration, class action and jury waiver

Please read this section carefully. It affects your legal rights.

(a) Informal resolution. Before starting any proceeding, you must send a written notice describing the dispute to hello@katamacreek.com and allow 60 days to resolve it informally.

(b) Binding arbitration. Any dispute, claim or controversy arising out of or relating to the Site, these Terms, ANY PRODUCT OR ANY ORDER or our relationship (a "Dispute") will be resolved by final and binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules (or, if you are not a consumer, its Commercial Arbitration Rules), before a single arbitrator, by video or in the county where you live. If you are a consumer, we will pay the AAA filing, administration and arbitrator fees beyond the amount the rules require you to pay. The arbitrator decides all questions of arbitrability, except that a court decides the enforceability of paragraph (c). Judgment on the award may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction. Either party may instead bring an individual claim in small-claims court, and either party may seek injunctive relief in court to protect intellectual property or confidential information.

(c) Class action waiver. DISPUTES WILL BE RESOLVED ONLY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS. YOU WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO BRING OR PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS, COLLECTIVE, CONSOLIDATED OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION OR ARBITRATION. If this paragraph is found unenforceable as to a claim, that claim will be severed and heard in court after the arbitration of all other claims.

(d) Jury waiver. TO THE EXTENT ANY DISPUTE PROCEEDS IN COURT, EACH PARTY WAIVES TRIAL BY JURY.

(e) Time limit. Any claim must be brought within one year after it arises, or it is permanently barred, to the extent the law permits.

(f) Opt-out. You may opt out of arbitration by emailing hello@katamacreek.com within 30 days after you first accept these Terms, stating your name and that you opt out.

20. Governing law and venue

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules, and by the Federal Arbitration Act. Subject to the dispute-resolution section, the state and federal courts located in Suffolk County, Massachusetts have exclusive jurisdiction, and you consent to their personal jurisdiction. The UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply. If you are a consumer, nothing in these Terms removes a protection that the law of the place where you live gives you and that cannot be waived by contract.

21. Termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to all or part of the Site, or cancel any order or account, at any time and for any reason, without notice. Every provision that by its nature should survive termination survives it, including those on submissions, intellectual property, disclaimers, limitation of liability, indemnity, disputes and governing law.

22. General

These Terms, with the policies they reference, are the entire agreement between you and us about the Site. If any provision is held unenforceable, it will be enforced to the maximum extent permitted and the rest remains in effect. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. You may not assign these Terms without our written consent; we may assign them freely. There are no third-party beneficiaries except the Katama Creek Farm Parties. We are not liable for any delay or failure caused by events beyond our reasonable control, including weather, carrier delays, outages and acts of government. Notices to us must be sent to hello@katamacreek.com; we may give notices to you by email, through your account, or by posting on the Site. Electronic acceptance and records satisfy any writing requirement.

Contact: Katama Creek Farm, Groton, Massachusetts · hello@katamacreek.com