I am conscious that many of the visitors to Vegging Out are from the United States, so for this post I wanted to focus on finding local fruit and vegetable suppliers in the US. I’ve been searching the web high and low and here are the best three websites that I’ve found so far.
Find Places Where You Can ‘Pick Your Own’ in the US
PickYourOwn.org helps you find farms in your area where you can pick your own fruits and vegetables. The site also gives you picking tips, plus instructions on how to preserve your fruits and veg, as well as recipes for jams, soups, sauces, ice cream and more.
To find a Pick Your Own farm near you, click on your state then narrow the search to your local area using their maps and links.
I worked in the United States for a year, so I chose the place I worked in Pennsylvania for my test. I located a strawberry farm and a blueberry farm, which also sold homemade pies, cakes, muffins, jams and jellies.
Search For Local Farmers Markets in the US
The United States Department of Agriculture’s website for Agricultural Marketing Services, provides a service called the ‘Farmers Market Search’. They aim to maintain a current listing of farmers markets throughout the US.
Simply use the search fields to find markets in your area. Again, I used my Pennsylvanian example to see how the site worked and found the Wayne County Farmers Market in Honesdale, which is open from May to October from 9am to 1pm. Full addresses and phone numbers are also supplied.
Discover Farms and Other Food Producers in Your State
Local Harvest is a community style website with lots to offer, including a ‘Food/Farm Event’ calendar, a regular newsletter and a forum.
In the ‘Farms’ tab I searched for Honesdale in Pennsylvania and found 16 entries, which included growers of a range of fruits, vegetables, nuts and mushrooms, plus a wheatgrass grower, an alpaca farm and a flower market.
