LAKE COUNTY MARKET

Lake County, Illinois Farmers Market — Buy & Sell Local Crops Near You

🌽 From Abbott Park to Fort Sheridan, Lake County gardeners, small farms and home cooks post their extra harvest here for people nearby. Illinois favorites like honey and sweet corn show up here when they're in season. Listing is free and you keep 100% of every local sale.

Farming in Lake County by the Numbers

Lake County has 306 farms on 32,226 acres (about 105 acres each). Together they sold $47 million of farm products in 2022, led by nursery & greenhouse plants, corn and soybeans.

Orchards and vineyards here grow apples, grapes and peaches, and local fields produce pumpkins, tomatoes, carrots and broccoli. Beekeepers tend about 1,768 honey bee colonies.

62 farms in Lake County already sell straight to the public, about $920,000 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 Lake County

Lake County farms and homesteads keep 1,389 egg-laying hens, 869 horses and ponies and 150 sheep. Fresh farm eggs are one of the easiest things to buy and sell locally.

About 526 people run or help run farms in Lake County, with an average age of 62. 38% of them are women. 20 are under 35 - the next generation of local growers. 8 farms earn money from agritourism - things like u-pick fields, pumpkin patches, farm stays and corn mazes.

Where Lake County stands out: it ranks #1 of 97 IL counties for honey bee colonies and #16 of 93 IL counties for selling food straight to the public.