SARASOTA COUNTY MARKET

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

🌽 From Sarasota to Mid Venice, Sarasota County gardeners, small farms and home cooks post their extra harvest here for people nearby. Watch for local strawberries when it comes into season in Florida. It's free to post, there's no cut taken, and local farm food carries no sales tax.

Farming in Sarasota County by the Numbers

Sarasota County has 286 farms on 71,878 acres (about 251 acres each). Together they sold $48.5 million of farm products in 2022, led by nursery & greenhouse plants, vegetables and fruit & nuts.

Orchards and vineyards here grow oranges, tangerines and mangoes, and local fields produce lettuce, chile peppers, fresh herbs and eggplant. Beekeepers tend about 223 honey bee colonies.

40 farms in Sarasota County already sell straight to the public, about $2.5 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 Sarasota County

Livestock is part of daily life here: the 2022 farm census found 14,361 head of cattle, 1,459 egg-laying hens and 390 horses and ponies in Sarasota County. Grass-fed beef sold by the quarter or half is a common way ranchers sell direct.

About 563 people run or help run farms in Sarasota County, with an average age of 59. 48% of them are women. 58 are under 35 - the next generation of local growers. 11 farms earn money from agritourism - things like u-pick fields, pumpkin patches, farm stays and corn mazes.

Where Sarasota County stands out: it ranks #3 of 65 FL counties for selling food straight to the public.