Farmers tailgate markets are readying tents for a new season—and those that have continued through the winter are welcoming back farms and other food vendors. At these early spring markets, you will find much of the produce we’ve seen through the winter, like cold-hardy greens and tender salad mixes. But you can also start to look for spring alliums and more root veggies coming in. As always, you can also get mushrooms, eggs, meat, cheese, bread, and prepared foods. A wide variety of plant starts will be available over the next few months.
While much of the uncertainty that accompanied spring market openings at the start of the pandemic last year is gone, COVID-19 precautions are still in effect. That means you can expect social distancing measures, like limiting the number of shoppers and spacing out lines. Masks will still be required. Check individual market websites and signage for details and updates.
This coming Saturday is the final date of ASAP Farmers Market’s winter season, with hours from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The spring market season will start April 3 and continue at A-B Tech location (340 Victoria Rd.). Hours will change to 9 a.m. to noon. Look for most of the same vendors who have been at the winter market as well the addition of more produce farms, like Green Toe Ground, New Roots Market Garden, Jake’s Farm, Headwaters Market Garden, Bear Necessities Farm, and Fiddler’s Green Farm. Carolina Flowers will be back with vibrant blooms, and you can shop for plants from High Country Nursery and Finally Farm.
North Asheville Tailgate Market returns to the UNC Asheville campus next Saturday, April 3, from 8 a.m. to noon. While continuing some vendor limits to make social distancing possible, the market expects to have more than 30 farms and other food vendors. Live music will be back this season.
Coming up in the week after, West Asheville Tailgate Market reopens at 718 Haywood Rd. on Tuesday, April 6, from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Weaverville Tailgate Market opens for the season on Wednesday, April 7, from 2 to 5 p.m., at a new location just down the road at Gotta Have It Antiques, 60 Monticello Rd. East Asheville Tailgate Market will open earlier in the spring than it has in past seasons—on Friday, April 9, from 3 to 6 p.m., at 954 Tunnel Rd.
River Arts District Farmers Market will continue with its winter hours (3 to 5:30 p.m.) on Wednesdays, indoors and outdoors at Plēb Urban Winery, 289 Lyman St. Its spring season officially begins May 5, when more vendors will return to the market. Also in May, look for openings from Enka-Candler Tailgate Market on Thursday, May 6, from 3 to 6 p.m. and Black Mountain Tailgate Market on Saturday, May 8, 9 a.m. to noon.
WNC Farmers Market operates daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 570 Brevard Road. Farmers Truck Shed #1 is designated for farmers who sell only what they grow.
Spring weather may have you itching to go on adventure. Consider visiting a new farmers market on the way to a hike or bike ride. There are more than 100 markets throughout the Appalachian Grown region, which includes Western North Carolina as well as surrounding counties in Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina. Find a full list here or use ASAP’s online Local Food Guide.
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Double SNAP at Farmers Markets
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ASAP's mission is to help local farms thrive, link farmers to markets and supporters, and build healthy communities through connections to local food.
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Many farmers work part or full-time jobs off the farm while also growing food and running a farm business. Hear Melissa Harwin from Highgate Farm reflect on her years of being a nurse and farmer, and learn how Hayley Creasman and Colby Buchanan balance multiple jobs while working with their family at Creasman Farms on this week's Growing Local.
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Ten Acre Farm will be featured on the cover of an official Visit North Carolina guide, reports The Mountaineer.
We Give a Share will expand to work with more farms 2021, reports the Mountain Xpress. The initiative, begun in 2020 at the start of the pandemic, purchased food from farms for community meals prepared by Southside Kitchen.
Seasonal and migrant farmworkers in the region, a group disproportionately affected by COVID-19, received the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine at a Western Carolina University clinic in partnership with Vecinos, an organization providing health services to farmworkers. Find out more in this WLOS story.
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