I’ve been wanting to visit the Nashville Farmers Market for quite some time now. It’s been on my list of things to do in Nashville.
I’m so glad I finally got that chance!
This is also my first time ever to a farmers market, so I really didn’t know what to expect.
The Nashville Farmers Market is very easy to find. (Lucky for this directionally challenged girl!)
There is plenty of FREE parking as well.
What I didn’t know about this particular farmers market is that it has 2 other areas in addition to the Farmers Market:
- a Flea Market (partially-covered sheds closer to Jefferson Street & I-65) with everything from handcrafted pottery & jewelry to home goods, clothing, and accessories
- a Market House ( the interior, fully covered building) with restaurants and shops, crafters making handmade soaps & body products, prepared foods, specialty items, and more
It is also much larger than I anticipated (16 acres to be exact).
First Impressions
On this particular day, my daughter Taylor and I were on a mission to see how far our $20 cash would go.
We didn’t really have an agenda on what exactly we were going to buy, but we kept it simple by agreeing to get things we would actually eat!
We headed straight to the Nashville Farmers Market which is located under partially-covered farm sheds.
Some Farmers Market Nashville vendors are also set up in the middle market area — in between sheds — closer to Harrison Street and the Tennessee State Capitol building.
We had to go through the Market House to get there, and let me just say it smelled delicious!
There were vendors selling food & drink representing different countries around the world (India and Jamaica, to name a couple). If Taylor were an adventurous eater, we would have eaten lunch there but she’s not, so we kept moving.
When you first enter the Nashville Farmers Market, it’s a rush of intense (good) smells.
It’s a mix of smells because there is such a large variety of everything in close proximity to each other. There are flowers, pumpkins, peppers, and candles, along with fruits & veggies (some I’d never seen before).
Taylor and I walked through the entire Farmers Market first before we even thought about buying anything.
It was so interesting to see and meet the farmers and to buy straight from them (instead of via the grocery store). It was awesome to know they had grown everything themselves. I was a bit jealous too because I have a black thumb.
The neatest thing we saw were ginormous pumpkins. I have read about them and seen pictures of them, but I’ve never touched a 140-pound pumpkin… until this day!
Not to mention there were white (albino) pumpkins and white/orange pumpkins too. Some of these pumpkins had the most beautiful stems.
Anyhow, getting back to the Farmers Market itself…
Good Deals We Found
We made the rounds and then carefully began selecting our produce.
We decided on some apples as our first selection. My husband loves Granny Smith apples, so I bagged up 3 of those for him.
The Granny Smith apples were $1.50 a pound.
Then this sweet gal introduced us to a “new” kind of apple. It’s called a honeycrisp apple (red/yellow in color). I told her I had never heard of a honey crisp apple, and I’ve never tasted one either. So right there, she whipped out a knife, cut open a fresh honeycrisp apple, and gave Taylor and I a sample. They were the perfect mix of sweet and sour.
The honey crisp apples were $2.50 a pound. I bagged up 3 of those as well.
She was also selling mini plums and they looked so delicious I just had to get some. Those were $3 for a pint.
Next, we spotted some collard greens. (Everyone was selling collard greens!) I was able to get 3 pounds for $3 at the same place.
I ended up buying $9.50 worth of fruits and veggies from this one stand. (It must have been the apple sample that hooked me.)
At this point, we knew we wanted to get a watermelon, but we wanted to buy it on our way out — so we wouldn’t have to carry it all through the market. We already had a few bags and there were no carts or baskets. (This was the only downside to our experience… we couldn’t buy more.)
So we were heading back toward the entrance (and the watermelons), but there it was: this delicious sampler of chips, dips and salsa!
I had to stop.
I asked about all the salsas and dips (which were homemade), ate my sample, and ended up buying a bottle of hot sauce for my hubby. He’s a hot sauce connoisseur.
That baby right there was $6! But you know what, I didn’t mind. I love supporting a local merchant and knowing that he and his family made the hot sauce themselves.
We then arrived at the watermelons. There were all different sizes to choose from. For our arms’ sake, we went with a watermelon that was approximately 5 pounds. We got that for $2.
In the end, we got 3 pounds of apples, 1 pint of mini plums, 3 pounds of collard greens, 1 bottle of hot sauce, and 1 watermelon for a grand total of $17.
Not too shabby. Supporting local farmers is what it boiled down to for me. It was definitely worth every penny!
Before You Go
- The Nashville Farmers Market is located at 900 Rosa Parks Boulevard, Nashville TN 37208.
- Market staff are available on-site 7 days a week, and the main building is open daily from 8AM to 8PM. (Here are the hours for specific Farmers Market Nashville vendors.)
- They do take debit and credit cards — so you don’t have to carry cash (unless you want to).
- All of the merchants are small, locally-owned businesses.
- If you’re on the adventurous side when it comes to the foods you like to eat, then plan on eating at the Market House!
- Lots of folks take strollers — which do have a lot of room for carrying items, so you don’t have to tote everything in your arms. People also brought little wagons to cart around their goodies. (You’ll need one of those if you want one of the 140-pound pumpkins. Imagine the pumpkin seeds you could roast!)
- For updates and timely events, check out the Nashville Farmers Market’s Facebook page and Twitter page.
- There are hundreds of great reviews of the Nashville Farmers Market.
You’ll find a locally, regionally, and more grown fruits & vegetables, locally & regionally raised meats, plants, flowers & herbs, farm-fresh eggs & dairy products, baked goods, snacks, spices, international items, and more on our Farm Side.
— Farmers Market Nashville
I’m a happily married mom to 3 wonderful children: Taylor (13), Gavin (10) and Garrett (8). We recently relocated to the Nashville area from Florida and we’re enjoying exploring Middle Tennessee and all it has to offer. My hobbies are: writing, photography, digital scrapbooking, cooking, and all things parenting.