SHELBY COUNTY MARKET

Shelby County, Alabama Farmers Market — Buy & Sell Local Crops Near You

🌽 From Calera to Indian Springs, Shelby County gardeners, small farms and home cooks post their extra harvest here for people nearby. Watch for local sweet potatoes when it comes into season in Alabama. Posting an ad is free and sellers keep every dollar.

Farming in Shelby County by the Numbers

Shelby County has 385 farms on 54,230 acres (about 141 acres each). Together they sold $24.2 million of farm products in 2022, led by nursery & greenhouse plants, cotton and cattle.

Orchards and vineyards here grow grapes, apples and pears, and local fields produce pumpkins, sweet corn, tomatoes and okra. Beekeepers tend about 366 honey bee colonies.

42 farms in Shelby County already sell straight to the public, about $190,000 a year in direct sales. Crop Market gives them, and every backyard grower, a free way to reach more neighbors.

Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2022 Census of Agriculture.

Farm Life in Shelby County

Shelby County farms and homesteads keep 4,786 head of cattle, 1,551 egg-laying hens and 1,164 horses and ponies. Grass-fed beef sold by the quarter or half is a common way ranchers sell direct.

About 655 people run or help run farms in Shelby County, with an average age of 59. 37% of them are women. 49 are under 35 - the next generation of local growers. 12 farms earn money from agritourism - things like u-pick fields, pumpkin patches, farm stays and corn mazes.