ALAMEDA COUNTY MARKET

Alameda County, California Farmers Market — Buy & Sell Local Crops Near You

🌽 Buy local in Alameda County: fruit, vegetables, honey, baked goods, plants and livestock from people in Oakland, Berkeley and Castro Valley. Watch for local strawberries when it comes into season in California. Posting an ad is free and sellers keep every dollar.

Farming in Alameda County by the Numbers

Alameda County has 397 farms on 158,500 acres (about 399 acres each). Together they sold $134.4 million of farm products in 2022, led by hay & other field crops, fruit & nuts and cattle.

Orchards and vineyards here grow grapes, olives and sweet cherries, and local fields produce tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans and fresh herbs. Beekeepers tend about 291,102 honey bee colonies.

30 farms in Alameda County already sell straight to the public, about $2.3 million 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 Alameda County

Livestock is part of daily life here: the 2022 farm census found 12,221 head of cattle, 751 horses and ponies and 720 egg-laying hens in Alameda County. Grass-fed beef sold by the quarter or half is a common way ranchers sell direct.

About 792 people run or help run farms in Alameda County, with an average age of 58. 43% of them are women. 67 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.

Where Alameda County stands out: it ranks #1 of 51 CA counties for honey bee colonies.