CHEROKEE COUNTY MARKET

Cherokee County, North Carolina Farmers Market — Buy & Sell Local Crops Near You

🌽 Crop Market is a free online farmers market where neighbors in Andrews, Marble and and Unaka buy and sell food they grew, baked or raised. North Carolina favorites like sweet potatoes and blueberries show up here when they're in season. It's free to post, there's no cut taken, and local farm food carries no sales tax.

Farming in Cherokee County by the Numbers

Cherokee County has 246 farms on 25,410 acres (about 103 acres each). Together they sold $18.5 million of farm products in 2022, led by vegetables, corn and fruit & nuts.

Orchards and vineyards here grow grapes, apples and lychees, and local fields produce collard greens, cabbage, green peas and tomatoes. Beekeepers tend about 200 honey bee colonies.

14 farms in Cherokee County already sell straight to the public. 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 Cherokee County

Out in the pastures and barnyards, Cherokee County counts 6,440 head of cattle, 342 sheep and 127 goats. Grass-fed beef sold by the quarter or half is a common way ranchers sell direct.

About 406 people run or help run farms in Cherokee County, with an average age of 59. 32% of them are women. 23 are under 35 - the next generation of local growers. 1 farm earns money from agritourism - things like u-pick fields, pumpkin patches, farm stays and corn mazes.