charlotte farmers market guide
Off the Eaten Path’s Charlotte Farmers Market Guide is your go to guide of where and when to go, how to shop, and what to buy, plus details on 15 area farmers markets in Charlotte, North Carolina!
I’ve spent the last six years meandering the stalls at the Charlotte Regional Farmers Market.
To be super exact, we’re quickly approaching my seven year Queen City anniversary, plus there were those ten weeks I spent in Charlotte in the summer 2011.
So my official market meandering is more like six years, ten months and two weeks.
Do all of these Saturdays spent shopping the stalls make me an expert?
I mean, I am not sure what qualifications you need to be a farmers market expert (and now I’d like to consider a career change) but I can confidently say I’ve learned a thing or two (or three or four or five) that I’d like to share with you.
(If your looking for recipes I’ve made featuring fresh, local ingredients and products, I have those. Check out this sheet pan chicken, poached chicken, peach whiskey smash recipe, watermelon frozen rose, blackberry basil gin fizz, and grilled peach sundaes!)
I remember when I first moved to Charlotte, the farmers market seemed like a total mystery, so my goal with this post is to share my insights and experience doing our weekly shopping at the Charlotte Regional Farmers Market.
I hope by sharing our experience and preferences (everyone is different) will not only give you the 411 on the market and answer your burning questions, but to also make the market appear less daunting and more approachable/navigable/easy to tackle for readers who are not as familiar with the market.
If I don’t specifically answer your question in this post, please leave a comment and I will make sure to answer it below!
Can I buy from and support Charlotte farms right now? Are markets open? Is delivery available?
updated 4/30/20
The short answer is, yes! You can still support local growers right now in a number of ways.
The Regional market is still open, but is currently only allowing North Carolina certified farmers to sell in order to limit vendors and foot traffic. They had to make the decision to cut vendors in order to add more space between the booths, By cutting some vendors, they were able to add more space between vendor booths, but unfortunately, some of our favorite vendors (those selling prepared foods and some from South Carolina) are not there currently. You’ll still find plenty of local produce and meat, everyone is just more spread out! This interactive map will show you a list of current vendors and their locations.
The Matthews Community Farmers Market is currently open from 8 am to noon on Saturdays, and in order to comply with current recommendations, they are limiting the number of people who can shop at one time. You can visit their website to learn all of their current policies and how they continue to improve customer experience during these unprecedented times.
The Davidson Farmers Market is currently closed, but many of its vendors are offering off site pickup at the Davidson Public Library.
The King’s Drive Farmers Market is currently open for the season three days a week on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. They are also offering “essential boxes” for curbside pickup which includes a variety of fruits and veggies and doesn’t require you to shop physically at the market.
In addition to purchasing from farmers in person, there are many ways that you can support our local food community through pick up and delivery.
Since mid-March, Your Mom’s Donuts has partnered with local farmers and vendors to offer customers grocery box pickup on Wednesdays and Fridays at both of their locations, along with a a pickup location in NoDa and Davidson. You can shop locally for what you need on their website, which is consistently updated week to week depending on what is available to sell. Currently, they have a ton of fresh produce like lettuce, zucchini, strawberries, watermelon, corn, mushrooms tomatoes and more, along with meats and cheeses, locally made frozen products, pantry items like jams and sauces, bath products and fresh flowers.
NoDa Company Store is also working with its local producers to offer grocery pickup. They have a variety of local goods and products and prepared meals, along with essentials like spices, toilet paper, canned and dried goods, beer and wine and more.
Farm Fresh Carolinas offers weekly produce box delivery straight to your home (due to current demand there is a wait list but they are offering curbside, contactless pickup on Saturdays in Ft. Mill.) They offer four different types of boxes, fruits, veggies, or a mix of both in their harvest box or family favorites. You can also add on things like eggs, pantry items, extra produce, wellness items, or produce storage.
The Uptown Farmers Market started as a virtual market on April 18, which gives patrons the ability to shop the market’s vendors online through their websites and social media. On May 2 and May 9, he market will host specific vendors on location at 300 S. Davidson St. for preorders only from 9am to 11am.
Freshlist is a local Charlotte company that connects farmers to chefs and consumers, and you can shop their online marketplace for delivery to your home or a pickup location. They have all sorts of great products including seasonal fruits and vegetables, proteins, eggs, dairy, bread, beverages and pantry.
Heritage Harvest Farms and Barbee Farms are both offering a variety of produce boxes for delivery and pickup.
Where is the Charlotte Regional Farmers Market?
The Charlotte Regional Farmers Market is located at 1801 Yorkmont Road, Charlotte, North Carolina, 28217.
That’s on the west side of Uptown, off of Billy Graham Parkway, close to the airport.
When is it open?
It is open all year round (yes! you can do farmers market shopping all year round and it’s something we totally do…of course, offerings in the winter are more sparse but still exist and are delish.)
The days and hours vary depending on the season. During the peak season (May through September), it is open Tuesday through Saturday 8AM-6PM and Sunday 12PM to 6PM.
Saturday is the day to hit it up though…that is when all of the buildings will be open and you will have the most vendors and farmers available (and especially if you’re looking to purchase from local farmers, Saturday is the day to go because that’s usually the only day they are there.)
If you go on one of the other days, you’ll usually just find some vendors in Building B that are open (we’ll talk more about the building breakdown below.)
In the fall/winter/early spring season (October to April) the market is open 8AM-5PM.
A lot of farmers and vendors will sell out of their products, so my biggest tip is to get there early so you can get the pick of what they’ve brought and not just what’s left.
We usually try to get to the market between 830 and 9am on Saturdays.
How do I navigate it?
The Charlotte Regional Farmers Market is one of four regional markets owned by the State of North Carolina and operated by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
Those owned and operated by the state are strategically located across North Carolina (there is on in Raleigh, one in Greensboro, one in Asheville and one in Charlotte) to serve both large and small farmers.
The Charlotte Regional Farmers Market is a behemoth of a space made up of four big buildings or sheds, plus a concession area. It’s size can make it intimidating for first timers or people unfamiliar with the set up and space.
Here’s a breakdown of what you can find in each building. (I’ve also included a map below to help you visualize the layout!)
Building A is the farthest building to the right when you are driving in. Building A is the “Got to be NC Building,” which means that everyone selling in that building are North Carolina farmers selling only North Carolina products.
You’ll find not only North Carolina farmers selling local produce, but also eggs, meat, dairy, honey, and cut flowers.
Building B is the middle building, slightly to the left when you drive onto the property. Building B is home to the “Market Shoppes,” which are comprised of several locally owned “Mom and Pop shops” who are allowed to sell produce and other agricultural goods from around the United States and around the world.
When speaking with manager Amie Newsome, about retailers who sell produce or other goods that are not necessarily “local” (you’ll find things like bananas, pineapples and other produce that is not available year round here in North Carolina), she says they offer this option “to create a family friendly market where no matter where your family is from, you can find what you grew up with [or what is familiar to you] at your local market. We have vendors who provide local, regional, national and global produce to meet demands of our diverse clientele.”
In Building B, you’ll also still find some local farmers selling local produce and goods, plus local vendors selling baked goods, specialty products, muscadine wine, as well as a Dunx Coffee stand to help fuel your shopping.
Building C is the farthest building to the left when you’re driving in and is home to the Variety Shops. In Building C, you’ll find what you expect from the name, a variety…including North and South Carolina farmers selling produce, meat and dairy, seafood, prepared foods, specialty foods, baked goods, crafters and more.
The fourth building, in the left front corner as you drive in is the Greenery Shed, mainly home to certified nurseries selling trees, shrubs, bedding plants, perennials and other plants. In the Greenery Shed you’ll also find a few crafters who utilize North Carolina agricultural products in their crafts and new vendors with specialty baked goods or prepared foods.
And finally, theres’s a concession area near the Greenery Shed which is home to permitted food vendors…usually we see a few food trucks, trailers and tables set up selling everything from doughnuts to kettle corn, bratwurst and barbecue.
As promised, here is a map with the building layout:
Our favorite vendors:
I have confidence in you that now you could navigate the Charlotte farmers market like a pro!
But there’s probably questions still burning in you like, “even though I now know my way around, which vendors should I buy from?”
There are just so many to choose from!
My best advice when trying to find the perfect vendors to buy from that are a great fit for you and your family, is to shop around, shop from different vendors, talk to them, ask them questions, and by doing all of that, you’ll find your favorites.
Since we’ve been doing a lot of shopping there the past six years (for me…almost ten years for AJ!) we’ve had a lot of time to talk and ask questions to the people selling us our produce and meat. By getting to know them and buying and cooking with their products, we’ve figured out which vendors are our favorites.
These are the people we buy from week after week.
Feel free to use this list of our favorite vendors as a starting point for your own shopping…I’ve made sure to include their location in the market and what we like to buy from them.
Martin’s Charolais Farm (Building A)
Martin’s Charolais Farm sells all natural, pasture raised Charolais beef (the cows are not given any type of steroids or growth hormones), that are born and bred on born and bred on their family owned and operated farm in Fallston, North Carolina (which is just north of Shelby.)
Farmer Dennis Martin, aka our beef guy, is super friendly and knowledgable (AJ is a huge fan) and we usually go with what he recommends depending on what he brought with him to the market and what he has sold out of already. We’ve purchased and enjoyed everything from steaks to ground beef to short ribs and even beef tongue from him.
Clearview Farms (Building A)
Clearview Farms is located in Lincolnton, North Carolina, where they pasture raise lamb, beef, pork, and poultry. Clearview Farms raises their animals via a rotational grazing system, “moving them where they need to be to thrive in a healthy environment.”
As an additional service to customers, Clearview Farms also represents Ashe County Cheese Company, who has been making cows’ milk cheese since the 1930s. They offer a selection of Ashe County cheeses and butters at their stand on Saturdays.
Clearview Farms is our favorite vendor for bacon and breakfast sausage, as well as cheese (we always pick up at least one block!) and the occasional tomato or two.
Windy Hill Farm (Building A)
Windy Hill Farm is a family owned and operated farm in New London, North Carolina that sells local, naturally raised meats, eggs and produce, grown and raised without the use of antibiotics or growth enhancers. Any given weekend at the market you can find pork, beef, chicken, eggs, duck, lamb and turkey at Windy Hill’s stand.
Windy Hill is our go to for chicken (this sheet pan chicken is made with Windy Hill’s chicken thighs) and I love that you can preorder what you want to buy online and just pick it up at the market, so you don’t have to worry about them selling out.
A Way of Life Farm (Building A)
Husband and wife Jamie and Sara Jane Davis started A Way of Life Farm in January 2009 in Sunshine, North Carolina. Their goal is to use “diverse natural systems that build living soil while producing food for healthy people, healthy economy, and healthy ecology.” They do not use synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides or GMOs anywhere on the farm.
We love to buy seasonal vegetables and produce from A Way of Life Farm, depending on what is in season and what they bring to the market week to week.
Crouching Hippo Farm (Building A)
Crouching Hippo Farm is located in Claremont, NC where they grow local vegetables and microgreens on their farm and in greenhouse facilities. We love perusing their selection of season produce and greenhouse grown tomatoes.
Bluebird Farms (Building A)
Bluebird Farms in Morganton, North Carolina raises vegetables, meats and eggs using “techniques that improve the health of our land and contribute to a diverse farm ecosystem.” Their vegetables are grown in living soils without the use of synthetic pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, or fungicides and harvested at the peak of freshness.
We buy, yes you guessed it, a ton of fresh and seasonal veggies from Bluebird Farms, and occasionally some meat products too (they have really good brats!)
Herb’s Honey (Building A)
All of Herb’s Honey products are handmade from the hive to the jar. They bring seven different varieties of local honey (from seven counties surrounding Charlotte) allow for samples before you buy!
Obviously, we buy honey from Herb’s!
Yah’s Best (Building A)
Yah’s Best is a local, family owned and operated salsa and sauce business run by a mother daughter team out of Huntersville, North Carolina. They sell a variety of traditional salsas, fruit salsas, specialty salsas, dips, dressings, seasonings and Southern favorites (like soups, chow chow, apple butter, pickles, pickled eggs and more.)
Unity Farms (Building B)
Unity Farms is a first generation family farm located in Iron Station, North Carolina. They partner with other local farmers to bring a fresh produce to the market on Saturdays, including a ton of local fruit.
Unity Farms has a huge spread in Building B, and we usually go to them for fruits (including strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, peaches and apples, depending on the season), herb plants (like basil, rosemary, thyme and mint), heirloom tomatoes in the summer, and a variety of seasonal veggies depending on what they have and what looks good.
Dunx Coffee (Building B)
Dunx Coffee is a local coffee roaster with a permanent shop in Building B that is open all year round…it’s the perfect place to get caffeinated before all of your farmers market wandering! In the summers I always opt for an iced coffee to carry as I meander between stalls and fresh produce, and in the cooler months a latte warms me right up!
WoodMill Winery (Building B)
WoodMill Winery is a local vineyard located just outside of Lincolnton, North Carolina that specializes in muscadine wine. (They also make wines with Scuppernong grapes, blueberries and blackberries.)
If you are afraid you won’t like muscadine wine or fruit wine, all I have to say is, don’t knock it til you try it! WoodMill Winery offers samples at their stall in Building B and every few months or so we go home with a few bottles of their wine.
Duke’s Bread (Building B)
Duke’s Bread is a local Charlotte bakery that specializes in fresh bread made from scratch. They usually have a pretty wide variety of their locally baked loaves for sale, including sourdough, brioche buns, kalamata olive round, cracked pepper and jack round and more. We especially love their parsley and tomato dipping oils, which we usually pick up along with a loaf.
The Mobile Stone (Building B)
The Mobile Stone is a knife sharpening service that offers knife sharpening services as you shop! You can drop your knives off on Friday, Saturday or Sunday to be sharpened while you do your weekly grocery shopping at the Charlotte farmers market.
Una Alla Volta (Building C)
Una Alla Volta is Charlotte’s only local cheesemakers. They specialize in fresh mozzarella, ricotta, burrata, and cultured european butter and sell out really fast on Saturdays, so make sure you get there early to get your favorites.
We always make sure to leave with some fresh mozzarella (especially in the summer for caprese salads!) and some flavored chevre (current obsession is bee sting.)
Rio Bertolini’s (Building C)
Rio Bertolini’s is a fresh pasta purveyor based out of Charleston, South Carolina. They offer a variety of fresh pastas including different flavors of ravioli, gnocchi, cavatelli, linguini and fettuccine, plus sell fresh pasta sauces, herbed butter, pre made take and bake dishes like lasagna, pizza dough and pierogi.
They also sell out pretty quickly, so get there early. We usually buy a few varieties of pasta and a sauce, based on what he has available (we enjoyed blue cheese and bacon ravioli, potato pierogi and grilled pizza made with their pizza dough over the last few weeks!)
Fish On Seafood Company (Building C)
The Fish On Seafood Company is at the end of Building C (look for the big fish cooler!) and he has a variety of fresh fish, scallops and shrimp for sale as well as crab cakes and other seafood selections.
Speaking of seafood, a few weeks ago there was also a new shrimp vendor also in Building C, so I will make sure to report back on him too…we had grilled shrimp for dinner two weekends ago and it was amazing!
What things are truly local? How can I be sure I am buying locally grown ingredients?
I got this question a lot on social media, so I wanted to make sure I answered it clearly in this post.
I feel like I already sort of answered it…but here we go. In order to know that you are buying something truly local grown by a local farmer, you need to ask the person selling it to you.
I could say, simply stick to Building A, but I don’t think that would be good advice or would do the market justice…while there are the highest concentration of local North Carolina farmers in Building A, there are also local farmers spread out in the market in Buildings B and C, and you wouldn’t want to miss them by just staying in Building A.
Wander around. Look at the produce. Think about the growing seasons (there is a seasonal growing chart on the market website which will tell you what fruits and veggies are in season and when they are in season).
And most importantly, talk to the vendors!
We have loved chatting with and getting to know the people who grow and raise our food. It’s one of out favorite parts!
What is your favorite non-food thing?
I love walking around the Greenery shed, especially in the early spring when I’m looking for some fresh herbs and hanging baskets for our outdoor patio.
I don’t have a favorite vendor at the Greenery shed, but love wandering to see the variety of plants that are sold…everything from small basil plants to trees!
Is it pet friendly?
While dogs are allowed on the property, they are not allowed in any of the selling areas of the market, which means you can’t bring your furry friend along on your farmers market shopping trip.
Service animals are allowed in the selling areas of the Charlotte Regional Farmers Market.
14 other Charlotte area farmers markets
The Charlotte Regional Farmers Market is just one of many markets in the greater Charlotte area. Here is a list of other local Charlotte markets that you should check out!
Downtown Pineville Farmers Market
Matthews Community Farmers Market
Piedmont Market: Harrisburg Farmers Market
The Rock Hill Farmer’s Market you linked.is in New York City.
thanks for catching that!
This guide is beautiful and thorough – and super timely for our trip to Charlotte over the July 4th weekend. I can’t wait to dive in to the rest of your city guides!
Thanks — good to know the layout and your recommendations. Will sure go and see some
of the vendors you mentioned. Very informative and unique. Thank you again
thank you! hope you enjoy your visit at the farmers market!
Here are a few more that were left off the list and it also touches on the markets that accept SNAP and participate in Double Bucks
https://www.mecknc.gov/HealthDepartment/MCFA/Pages/Local-Farmers-Markets.aspx
Thanks so much I’ll have to update!