Shopping for Thanksgiving this week and weekend? The following Asheville-area farmers markets are open and ready to serve you so that you can serve up a fresh local feast. Expect meats, cheeses and produce like apples, greens, roots and winter squash, along with baked goods and gifts galore!
Black Mountain Tailgate Market
Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week
The broccoli buzz is back at area farmers tailgate markets! Just like this spring, over the weekend shoppers could be heard sharing where they snagged their stalks and be seen scurrying to vendors’ booths hoping to buy some before it sold out.
Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week
Guest market report by Alex Alesi, fall communications intern; go Alex!
Lower temperatures make fall crops feel right on time at area farmers tailgate markets. Root vegetables will abound this week. Keep reading to see what we mean!
Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week
Potatoes are sure to be plentiful at area farmers tailgate markets this week. After all, it is officially Get Local potato month! But we’re not talking about the average russet…
Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week
If a product is on your shopping list, area farmers tailgate markets are almost guaranteed to have it this week! Vendors’ tables are literally overflowing with fruits and veggies of all kinds, even the more exotic.
At Asheville City Market, Dancing Doe Farm offers eggplants “from around the world” (pictured above). For a taste of Turkey, try their Turkish Orange eggplants, which look almost identical to heirloom tomatoes. Travel to Malaysia with their Malaysian Red eggplants, which are actually a beautiful shade of violet. From Thailand, they offer the veggie in surprising green.
Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week
Spring salad ingredients are stealing the spotlight at area farmers tailgate markets now. And we’re not just talking about the standards—although crisp local lettuces and radishes abound. Find everything you need for specialty side salads: slaw, pasta salad, even potato salad!
Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week
Strawberries and rhubarb go together like peanut butter and jelly, peas and carrots, salt and pepper…you get the idea! Luckily, both members of the dynamic duo are available at area farmers tailgate markets now—fresh from farmers and already baked into classic pies and crisps thanks to bakery vendors.
The veggie (even though it tastes sweet-tart like fruit, it’s a vegetable!) has been spotted from several vendors, including McConnell Farms (Asheville City Market, North Asheville Tailgate Market) and Jake’s Farm (Asheville City Market, French Broad Food Co-op Wednesday Tailgate Market). Like strawberries, rhubarb can be frozen for a taste of spring come fall or winter; just blanch it first.
Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week
Thanksgiving is the ultimate meat (or meat-alternative!) and potatoes meal, and who says spuds can’t be the star? Area farmers tailgate markets have the varieties you need to make the quintessential side stand out—whether you plan to mash, roast, or bake.
Look for fingerling potatoes, including the chef-favorite Russian Banana. These yellow banana-shaped ‘taters are known for their firm texture that holds up well to boiling, baking, and beyond. Also look for Green Mountain potatoes, spotted recently from Full Sun Farm at Montford Farmers Market and North Asheville Tailgate Market. Green Mountain was once the country’s most-popular baking potato, before the Russet took over the top spot. While only a few farmers grow the variety now, Full Sun promises that its unique buttery flavor is still the same.
Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week
Get sweet treats this week at area farmers tailgate markets, and not the kind you think! Sure, there will be Halloween- and fall-inspired cupcakes, pies, and tarts (and even a chance to trick or treat—more later). But the real sweet story is the season’s veggies.
The first freeze, predicted mid-week, will actually make fall favorites like kale, broccoli, parsnips, and carrots sweeter and more flavorful than they’ve been so far! How?
Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week
Fall may be settling in, but some summer veggies—from peppers to beans—can still be found this week at area farmers tailgate markets. There has even been a surge of green tomatoes recently. Unfortunately, the surge actually means winter is nipping at our heels. A hard freeze that will put an end to tomato plants is on its way. So, farmers are bringing any unripe ‘maters to market now. Snap them up while you can; they’ll be gone by the end of the month.