Launched in mid-June 2010 as Chamblee Farmers Market, the market moved to Brookhaven in July 2011 in partnership with Haven and Valenza restaurants. Vendors may sell only what they have produced and must follow sustainable practices. Look for meats, produce, dairy products, baked goods, coffee, salsas, pet supplies. It also boasts possible the best-named vendor in all of metro Atlanta: 2 Fun Guys, seller of shiitake mushroom logs.
Vendors set up in a grassy spot in scenic Serenbe community, making this market worth a visit. In addition to produce from Serenbe’s outstanding five-acre community farm, you’ll find produce, and flowers from other local growers as well as honey, jams, coffee, bath products, and arts and crafts.
In its six years of operation, Peachtree Road has blossomed into the Saturday morning destination for local-food lovers. The diverse vendors—growers as well as specialists offering foods like charcuterie, jams, grass-fed beef, breads, and cheese—all harvest, raise, or craft their own goods. Lauren Carey is the metro area’s only full-time manager responsible for a single farmers market. Her tenacity is why the vendor list reads like an all-star lineup of area farmers and producers: Burge Organic Farm brings in diverse varieties of eggplant, garlic, plums, and other heirloom fruits and vegetables; Dubberly’s Seafood trucks in fresh-caught shrimp from Savannah during the summer season. Carey also snags the city’s most vegetable-savvy chefs for weekly demos. David Sweeney of the Bakery at Cakes & Ale, for example, appears on August 25.
And don’t miss Candice Reynolds’s Red Queen Tarts, flaky pastries filled with local fruits like pear, fig, or blueberry.
Parking tip: Pull into the drive for Cathedral of St. Philip, where the market is held, and head for the roomier back parking lot. You’ll have to climb a short, paved hill to get to the market, but you’ll save yourself a lot of aggravation from traffic congestion.
Morningside, now in its eighteenth season, is a serious cook’s market, featuring only certified organic foods; top-notch farmers; and a full schedule of outstanding chef demos at 9:30 a.m., April through November. Arrive as the sun rises to line up in front of your favorite farmers’ tents for the very best ingredients, which often disappear quickly. Flagship vendors at this market include Crystal Organic, where talented farmer Nicolas Donck uses domed, plastic-roofed hoop houses to grow delicate salad greens and cool-season veggies like beets well into the summer—and cold-sensitive tomatoes deep into autumn.
Parking tip: Because most market shoppers just run in and out, the spaces turn over quickly in the small shopping center across the street and a half block north.
On one of the metro area’s most charming town squares, vendors line up their tents end to end in long rows on Saturday mornings, creating a minicity of white and blue canvas. It’s a big, bustling, festive jumble, but beware: If you’re looking to buy food from people who grow it themselves, just be sure to ask questions. And check out the roasted jalapeño and basil pestos from Hope’s Gardens. Marietta Square hosts a smaller Sunday market too.
Parking tip: Scan for street spots, but the free parking deck at Lawrence and Waddell streets is just two blocks from the market.
Tucked into a long, deceptively narrow lot across the street from Midway Pub, the market is much bigger than it first appears. Be sure to stop at the booths for Love Is Love Farm at Gaia Gardens, where Joe Reynolds and his team display a kaleidoscopic array of watermelons, blueberries, pole beans, and other of-the-moment gems. Kevin Ouzts of the Spotted Trotter offers weekly changing variations on sausage, such as brandied rabbit boudin or spicy lamb merguez. Stay for a cooking or gardening demo, and then place an order for an S&J Pizza, made with market ingredients, to take home when your shopping trip is done.
Parking tip: Parking here is almost always challenging. Don’t bother looking for street parking in the neighborhood directly across the street on Flat Shoals; you’re better off pulling into the lot behind Midway Pub (1331 Glenwood Avenue) or a side street on the Stokeswood Avenue side of the market.
Volunteer opportunities
The market seeks volunteers to help run the market information booth as well as some vendor booths.
Community initiatives
Accepts SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits at double value through the Wholesome Wave program. Learn about the Decatur Farm to School program at the market’s info booth.
