GILLESPIE COUNTY MARKET

Gillespie County, Texas Farmers Market — Buy & Sell Local Crops Near You

🌽 Gillespie County has more backyard fruit trees and home gardens than anyone could eat from. Crop Market connects them with neighbors in Albert, Doss and and Willow City. Fruit, vegetables, cottage foods, plants, seeds and farm gear are all welcome. It's free to post, there's no cut taken, and local farm food carries no sales tax.

Farming in Gillespie County by the Numbers

Gillespie County has 2,021 farms on 548,817 acres (about 272 acres each). Together they sold $38.2 million of farm products in 2022, led by cattle, fruit & nuts and sheep & goats.

Orchards and vineyards here grow peaches, grapes and pecans, and local fields produce squash, tomatoes, cantaloupes and cucumbers. Beekeepers tend about 357 honey bee colonies.

70 farms in Gillespie County already sell straight to the public, about $33.7 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 Gillespie County

Gillespie County farms and homesteads keep 31,872 head of cattle, 18,453 sheep and 16,305 goats. Grass-fed beef sold by the quarter or half is a common way ranchers sell direct.

About 3,712 people run or help run farms in Gillespie County, with an average age of 62. 41% of them are women. 187 are under 35 - the next generation of local growers. 131 farms earn money from agritourism - things like u-pick fields, pumpkin patches, farm stays and corn mazes.

Where Gillespie County stands out: it ranks #1 of 196 TX counties for selling food straight to the public and #10 of 241 TX counties for goats.