Local Farmers Markets & Farm Stands 2016

We like to think of our Local Farmers Markets & Farm Stands Guide as the Locavore Bible. It lists four markets that support sustainable farming and offer organic and free range products, and a website, Fresh Nation, where you can shop at any of them online. Plus, four farm stands open on weekdays and one where you can pick your own. We even tell you how to start an organic farm on your deck with the Tower Garden® – marketed locally by Armonk resident Lauren Bernard.

If you want to be all in, bookmark this and get on their mailing list for rotating vendor alerts.

Chappaqua Farmer’s Market: As many as five farms supply produce for the market and on any given Saturday you can find a couple dozen more vendors from a list of 38 that pass through each year. New vendors this year include Breezy Hill Orchard, who supply organic apples from Dutchess and Ulster counties and their award-winning European-style hard cider, cider donuts, fresh pasta and tamales made with local flour and vegetables, and cranberry squares made with their own seasonal cranberries. Plum Plum’s of Pound Ridge offers a selection of regional artisanal cheeses. Brewster’s new Spy Hill Bakery offers organic baked goods, including their signature flourless chocolate cake. Raven and Boar from Hudson, NY is bringing fancy pork sausages, hot dogs and charcuterie. Stone & Thistle Farm specializes in quality meats, from pork, to beef to chicken and goat. They will also have goat cheese, goat’s milk and yogurt.

Returning vendors include Bien Cuit Bakery, a James Beard Award nominee, Doc Pickle, Sohha Yogurt (voted BEST in New York) Brooklyn’s Momo Dressing, Skinny Buddha, Pura Vida Fisheries,  Bread Alone, Joe’s Mozzarella, Kontoulis Olive Oil,  and Ready, Set, Sharp – for your knives, scissors and pruning shears. (Did we mention we won their caption writing contest?)  Sat, 5/16-11/21: 8:30am-1pm. (Chappaqua Train Station; www.chappaquafarmersmarket.org)

John Jay Homestead: For a real feel of the country drive up Rt. 22 to the John Jay Homestead where you go to market with grass under your feet, surrounded by historic buildings and music as vintage as the carriage barn. John Jay may be the most hyper-local of all the area’s markets. They get their fish from Conte’s Seafood; prepared foods from Ladle of Love; artisanal cheeses from Plum Plums in Pound Ridge and feature stands from farms in Bedford Hills, Katonah, Mt. Kisco, North Salem and Brewster. Pizza Luca of White Plains serves authentic pizza Napoletana from a mobile wood burning oven mounted on a 1952 Chevy Truck. Now, that’s country – if you’re from Naples.

As long as we’re dropping names: Katonah’s Amawalk Farm, Big Bang Coffee, Kisco’s Cabbage Hill Farm, Wave Hill Bread, Champagne Tea, Conant Valley Jam, Flour City Pasta & Johnny Gelato. Sat, 6/11-10/29: 9am-1pm. (400 Jay St., Rt. 22, Katonah; www.johnjayhomestead.org)

Muscoot Farm: If you can’t get to market on Saturday, the Muscoot Farmers Market is open on Sundays. Slightly smaller than the other area markets, you can still find many of your favorite items from a list of 23 vendors. And you can check out the animals, 11 historic buildings (we love the ice house and blacksmith shop) and hike seven miles of forest trails. Vendors include: Conte’s Fish Market, Bistro DuSoleil Fine Foods, Newgate, Madura and John Boys farms, Dutch Desserts, Meredith’s Bread, Bongo & Capacci Pasta, Hummingbird Ranch and PickleLicious. Sun, 5/10-10/25: 10am-3pm. (Muscoot Farm, Rt. 100, Somers; www.muscootfarm.org)

Pleasantville Farmers Market: The Pleasantville Farmer’s Market is Westchester’s largest market and most popular market. With over 55 vendors at its outdoor market and 40 during its indoor season you can shop for just harvested fruits and vegetables; artisanal bread, bakery and dairy products; meats, fish and poultry; wine and hard cider; gluten free products and prepared foods. Notable names include: Aba’s Falafel, Pura Vida Fisheries, Hudson Valley Duck, Rock City Mushrooms, Bobolink Dairy and Bakehouse, Mead Orchards, Adair Vineyards, Strudel Z, Buddhapesto, The Peanut Principle, Teagevity and PickleLicious. The market operates year-round at Memorial Plaza (next to train station) from April through Thanksgiving, Sat; 8:30am-1pm and at the Pleasantville Middle School, 40 Romer Ave. for the winter from December-March, Sat: 9am-1pm. www.pleasantvillefarmersmarket.org)

Fresh from the Farm Stand

Augustine’s Farm: Fresh farm eggs, corn, asparagus, heirloom tomatoes, squash, cucumber, beets, carrots, onions, watermelon, cantaloupe, honey dew, orange flesh melon, strawberries, blueberries, avocado, grapes, cherries, honey, dressings and fresh cut flowers. Open daily 9am-5pm from Mothers Day. (1332 King St., Greenwich, CT, 203.532.9611; augustinesfarmonfacebook)

De Maria’s Country Butcher Shop at Hemlock Hill Farm: Open seven days a week, year-round forfree-range poultry, custom pork, lamb, goat and beef, and country-fresh eggs. Plus produce from their 1-acre garden in season. Open year round, Mon-Sat: 9am-5:30pm & Sun: 9am-2pm. (500 Croton Ave., Cortlandt Manor, 914.737.2810; www.hemlockhillfarm.com)

Hilltop Hanover Farm: Offers fresh, farm-grown produce, seasonal vegetables, herbs and cut flowers.  Each week’s vegetables available for purchase are listed on their website. Fri: 1-6pm & Sat: 10am-4pm: June-November. Also U-pick from their fields on Sat, 10am-4pm: July-November. (1271 Hanover Street
, Yorktown Heights,
914.962.2368; www.hilltophanoverfarm.org)

Rochambeau Farm: Formerly known as Daisy Hill Farm, Rochambeau’s farm stand offers farm-fresh produce, their own signature cookies, pies, cheesecake, quiches and preserves; grass fed meats from Hemlock Farm; dairy from Adirondack Cheese Company and Battenkill Valley Creamery; oils and vinegar from MarDona; honey and syrup from Hummingbird Ranch and Sugarhouse at White Oak Farm; and baked goods from Carrie’s Home Kitchen, Joe’s Dough and Healing Home Foods Granola.  A host of friendly farm animals grace the grounds including potbelly pigs Patsy and Peppers, Lucy the boer goat and her kid Luna, two very cute sheep named Rocky and Ralph and lots of chickens, affectionately known as “the girls.” Thurs-Sun: May through Thanksgiving: check times.. (214 West Patent Rd., Mt. Kisco; www.rochambeaufarmny.com)

Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture: Farm-fresh produce meat and eggs at their farm store. Admission to the farm is free from Wed-Fri and $20 on the weekends. The farm store is open Wed-Sun: 10am-6pm. From May 2. (630 Bedford Rd., Pocantico Hills, 914.366.6200; www.stonebarnscenter.org)

Fresh Nation: A Peapod for locavores: The Pleasantville Farmer’s Market offers same-day home delivery on Saturday’s from its vendors through Fresh Nation. Fresh Nation is an online market that offers home delivery of the fresh produce, fish, organic meats, baked goods, and prepared foods from the same farms and suppliers that you see at your favorite farmers market. Whether you shop in Pleasantville, Chappaqua, Mount Kisco or at the John Jay Farmers Market you will recognize the names associated with Fresh Nation. Read more about Fresh Nation here.

Organic gardening in your own backyard 

The Tower Garden

If you need to have a farmer’s market in your own backyard to feel like you’ve earned your green stripes, the Tower Garden® promises an easy, eco-friendly, way to grow fruits and vegetables even if you have a brown thumb.

The Tower Garden®, available from Armonk resident Lauren Bernard, is a vertical garden system for patios, that uses an advanced form of hydroponics, called aeroponics, to grow “more colorful, better tasting, better smelling, and nutritious fruits and vegetables.” Its closed system continually recycles water and nutrients, pumping the mixture from a reservoir at its base to the top of your garden. From there, the solution drips through the central “tower” distributing water and nutrients to the plants’ roots as it travels back down to the reservoir. Read more here.