LEE COUNTY MARKET

Lee County, Florida Farmers Market — Buy & Sell Local Crops Near You

🌽 From Fort Myers to Bokeelia, Lee County gardeners, small farms and home cooks post their extra harvest here for people nearby. Homemade jams, breads and honey are listed right next to fresh produce and seedlings. It's free to post, there's no cut taken, and local farm food carries no sales tax.

Farming in Lee County by the Numbers

Lee County has 813 farms on 91,203 acres (about 112 acres each). Together they sold $132.9 million of farm products in 2022, led by vegetables, nursery & greenhouse plants and fruit & nuts.

Orchards and vineyards here grow oranges, mangoes and tangerines, and local fields produce watermelons, eggplant, bell peppers and lettuce. Beekeepers tend about 12,663 honey bee colonies.

96 farms in Lee County already sell straight to the public, about $1.2 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 Lee County

Lee County farms and homesteads keep 9,946 head of cattle, 4,851 egg-laying hens and 989 goats. Grass-fed beef sold by the quarter or half is a common way ranchers sell direct.

About 1,400 people run or help run farms in Lee County, with an average age of 57. 39% of them are women. 120 are under 35 - the next generation of local growers. 26 farms earn money from agritourism - things like u-pick fields, pumpkin patches, farm stays and corn mazes.

Where Lee County stands out: it ranks #7 of 61 FL counties for honey bee colonies and #9 of 65 FL counties for selling food straight to the public.