ORANGE COUNTY MARKET

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

🌽 Looking for food grown in Orange County? Backyard growers and small farms around Chapel Hill, Carrboro and and Hillsborough list it here. Fruit, vegetables, cottage foods, plants, seeds and farm gear are all welcome. Posting an ad is free and sellers keep every dollar.

Farming in Orange County by the Numbers

Orange County has 687 farms on 53,068 acres (about 77 acres each). Together they sold $32.4 million of farm products in 2022, led by poultry & eggs, nursery & greenhouse plants and corn.

Orchards and vineyards here grow chestnuts, grapes and apples, and local fields produce tomatoes, sweet potatoes, lettuce and squash. Beekeepers tend about 2,079 honey bee colonies.

140 farms in Orange 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 Orange County

Out in the pastures and barnyards, Orange County counts 200,291 egg-laying hens, 6,271 head of cattle and 1,217 sheep. Fresh farm eggs are one of the easiest things to buy and sell locally.

About 1,199 people run or help run farms in Orange County, with an average age of 58. 39% of them are women. 117 are under 35 - the next generation of local growers. 47 farms earn money from agritourism - things like u-pick fields, pumpkin patches, farm stays and corn mazes.

Where Orange County stands out: it ranks #1 of 90 NC counties for honey bee colonies and #7 of 89 NC counties for selling food straight to the public.