Get Fresh Produce at These 5 Chicago Farmers Markets
The greater Chicago area has no shortage of farmers markets. For a bounty of delicious and healthy fresh vegetables, plants, baked goods, meats, cheeses, and so much more, check out some of our favorite spots near Westmont, Illinois. You won’t want to miss all they have to offer.
The Farm Westmont
Something exciting happens three seasons of the year at The Farm Westmont. From pumpkins and squash in the fall to spring flowers and vegetable starts, The Farm is a wonderful place to gather supplies to plant your garden. Once the growing season picks up, the fields will be filled with vegetables and fruits for purchase.
Typically, the end of June to early July yields fresh bounties such as green beans, cucumbers, zucchini, sweet corn, several varieties of peppers, and blueberries. As the summer goes on, ripe melons, cherries, potatoes, raspberries, and tomatoes join the baskets. Fruits and vegetables grown on the farm are available along with crops from trusted growers in Michigan. Bookmark the growing schedule for 2023 so you can check when your favorites will be ready to harvest.
Local honey, jarred preserves, salsas, and vegetables sourced from small producers in the Midwest are available year-round. Come see what these third-generation growers at The Farm have to offer.
Location: 34 E. 63rd St., Westmont.
Hours: Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
City of Palos Heights Outdoor Farmers Market
Every Wednesday morning from May through October, Palos Heights, Illinois, hosts a Farmers Market with local vendors for vegetables, prepared foods, crafts, and flowers. Upcoming vendors include:
- Zeldenrust Farms: A purveyor of fresh vegetables and fruits, flowers, plant starts for the garden, houseplants, and more.
- Aracely’s Bakery and Tamales: Offering freshly baked breads, a huge variety of pan dulce flavors, and pork, chicken, or poblano tamales.
- Homegirl’s Hummus: Featuring a menu of gourmet hummus flavors, trail mix, granola, and tea.
- Stamper Cheese Company: Purveyors of cheese varieties such as aged cheddar, dill jack, horseradish chive havarti, triple cream brie, and handmade string cheese.
- Bettina’s Tea: Offering custom blend loose-leaf, sachet, and bottled iced teas, such as black, green, matcha, oolong, wellness blends, and herbal varieties such as rooibos and mate.
- Wonder Pork: A small multigenerational pig farm offering locally raised pork processed in a USDA-approved facility.
- Wild Flower Soap Co.: Featuring handmade soaps and body products made with cruelty-free ingredients.
Location: Municipal Parking Lot, 12217 S. Harlem Ave., Palos Heights.
Hours: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Wednesday (rain or shine) from May through the beginning of October (no market July 5th).
Riverside Farmers’ Market
The Riverside Farmers’ Market has been running for 14 years, hosting local farmers and artisans. Upcoming vendors include:
- Argento Acres: Offering blueberries, herbs, and vegetables.
- Finn’s Steak and Egg Ranch: Grass-fed beef, poultry, eggs, and pork. They offer an option to order in advance and then pick up at the market.
- The Vulgar Vegan: A vegan cupcake stand with a variety of interesting flavors, such as blueberry lavender, chai, and s’mores.
- Zeitlin’s Delicatessen: Serving up Jewish bakery favorites, such as bagels, babka, challah, and sweets.
- Carey Corn: Selling hand-popped salted popcorn, perfect for gifts.
- Sloan Coffee Roasting: Offering small-batch single-origin coffee roasted in Riverside, along with cold brew concentrate.
- Aunt Diana’s Old-Fashioned Fudge: A candy-maker offering fudge, pralines, candy, and a variety of holiday treats and gifts.
Location: Centennial Plaza near the Historic Water Tower, 10 Pine Ave., Riverside.
Hours: 2:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. every Wednesday from June through the beginning of October.
Naperville Farmer’s Market
Located in downtown Naperville near the Fifth Avenue train station, the Naperville Farmer’s Market is your spot for farm-fresh ingredients, local products, and community events. A selection of over 50 vendors includes:
- Chef Heatley’s Hot Pepper Farm: Featuring pepper seeds from the mild (Fresno) to the insanely hot (Carolina Reaper), along with housemade hot sauces in spicy and sweet varieties.
- DeEtta’s Bakery: Naperville’s original scratch-made bakery, offering sweet pastries such as danishes, muffins, and scones, fresh bread made with traditional methods, cupcakes, scones, pies, and seasonal offerings with the freshest ingredients.
- Fae Forest Fungi: A gourmet mushroom farm inviting you to look beyond the button mushroom and try varieties such as blue oyster, gold oyster, or pioppino.
- Gunderson Orchards: A family-operated Michigan fruit farm providing hand-picked, tree-ripened peaches, apples, berries, and grapes.
- Stellar Native Plant Nursery: Offering expert advice to homeowners interested in learning about preserving native plants, and providing a wide variety of plants for sale.
- Twisted Olive: A purveyor of gourmet olive oils and vinegars, such as lemon basil or hot chili olive oil, peach white balsamic vinegar, or a sampler pack to make your salads sing.
Location: 200 E. Fifth Ave., Naperville.
Hours: 7 a.m. to noon every Saturday from June through November. Select vendors remain on-site during the winter months.
Keller’s Farmstand
Beautiful flowers and fresh foods fill the baskets at Keller’s Farmstand in Naperville during the spring, summer, and fall. In April, the farmstand awakens from the long winter with hanging flower baskets, planters, specialty annuals, local perennials, and flats of bedding flowers. They also have vegetable, herb, and fruit plants for your garden.
In the summer, Keller’s brings in a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, such as sweet corn, tomatoes, zucchini, green beans, and onions. You can find Illinois favorites such as watermelon, muskmelon, and peaches alongside Michigan blueberries.
The fall season brings in prepicked apples from the Keller’s Oswego apple orchard, with an amazing selection of varieties that ripen from late summer into the late fall. Pumpkins from the patch at the Oswego location are available, along with gourds, cornstalks, hay bales, and ornamental corn for decorating your house for the harvest season.
Location: 516 Knoch Knolls Road, Naperville, IL
Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays from late April through the end of October.
What’s Your Favorite Farmers Market?
You’ve read about our favorite spots to buy fresh fruits and vegetables and local products. Now we want to hear about yours. Are there any markets or farmstands nearby that we missed? Please feel free to contact us and share some ideas to add to our list. Supporting our local farmers and artisans is very important to us.
red tomato lot on blue baskets by Anne Preble is licensed with Unsplash License
Tags: Chicago, Farmers Market
