Cincinnati and Southern Ohio Produce Stands and Markets, Some With Hunting

With a history dating back to 1788 Cincinnati quickly became a capital of agricultural trade, because it was located on the Ohio River for easy shipping. At one point, the Queen City supported at least nine or ten large farmers' market throughout its location.

Today, the magnificent Findlay Market, founded in 1852, is the last remaining farmer's market of the original historic number, located north of the Ohio River in the neighborhood called Over-the-Rhine. Alive with vendors and special events, it has been on the National Historic Register since 1972.

The neighborhood itself has experienced substantial preservation and reconstruction from 1990 to the 2010s and is a popular place for visitors to congregate. The market is the center of the larger Findlay Market District, which is almost a type of Enterprise Zone for increasing business and preserving the historic architecture of the neighborhood.

The website of Findlay Market speaks of hope for the future and plans to remain in place for many decades to come. It is a green operation and its vendors have embraced sustainability measures in growing produce and animal crops. Over 50 different farms send their good to market here and the market encourage apprentice farmers as well.

The Farmers' Market portion of the establishment is open April through November each year on Saturdays and Sundays, with a few vendors here and there during some weekdays. The Findlay Market Urban Farm is particularly interesting, growing food very close to the market.

A large number of other food and non-food vendors operate in the building on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Besides all of the above, many full-time year-round merchants sell their good in the building during regular working hours every day. This includes restaurants, clothiers, furniture stores, craft shops, cafes, and global enterprises. It will take you at least a full day to visit all of them.

No matter what day you go to the market, the sights, sounds, and aromas will create lasting memories.

Visit the website at Findlay Market.

Gorman Heritage Farm

• 10052 Reading Road, Cincinnati, OH 45241. Phone: (513) 563-6663.
• Open May through October annually, Wednesdays and Saturdays 11:00am to 4:00pm.
• Annual Sunflower Festival - First weekend in October; live entertainment, arts and crafts, hayrides, family fun stuff.
• Annual Sheep Shearing: First weekend in April.
• We Pick and U-pick: lavender, sunflowers and other flowers, pumpkins.
• Also for sale are turkeys, gift items, chicken, lamb, and pork.

Green Acres Landscaping and Nursery - U-Pick Blueberries

• 5700 Kyles Station Road, Hamilton, OH 45011. Phone: (513) 777-8330.
• Open seven days a week during blueberry harvest season - call ahead. Most types of payment accepted.
• Complete garden center, landscape design and installation business.

Turner Farm U-Pick Flowers

• 7400 Given Road, Indian Hill, Cincinnati, OH, 45243. Phone: (513) 561-8482.
• Open from 9:00 am to sundown Tuesday thru Friday; call before you go to ensure hours open and flowers available.

Northside Farmers' Market occupies operates on Wednesday late afternoons and early evenings at one of two places on Hamilton Avenue - a park and a church - all year long, splitting the months between the two. Call (513) 614-3671 before you go in order to check the address.

This is a very popular market and accepts the SNAP card as well as other forms of payment. Produce offerings include local apples, beans, berries, corn, grapes, melons, okra, peppers, peaches, pears, tomatoes, and more. Local eggs, bred, and honey are also for sale.

Check out their Facebook Page. The market encourages gardening and saving heriloom seeds from year to year. No GMO foods here. See a list here at Vendors' List.

Berryhill Farm and B&B

• 330 E. Krepps Rd, Xenia, OH 45385. Phone: (937) 374-8747. Green County, southeast of Dayton, Ohio.
• Fruits: blackberries, blueberries, red raspberries. Flowers also.
• Fishing and hunting are offered at this farm and nearby. This includes a stocked pond or lake, additional fishing nearby, hunting nearby, boating, horseback riding, and other activities.
• Berryhill uses sustainable farming methods and offers U-Pick fruits as well as farm fresh honey and chickens. Free farm tours are available to visitors and a bed and breakfast here offers two rooms for rentals. Eggs for breakfast are from free range hens.

Cherrybend Pheasant Farm and Lodge

• 2326 Cherrybend Rd., Wilmington, OH 45177. Phone: (937) 584-4269
• Offers game animals and possibly sunflowers from the farm. Grains are raised to feed the birds.
• Property includes an airstrip for fly-ins on movie weekends and group meals after special events like organized sport clay shooting. Visitors can camp outside the hangar.
• This farm offers clay target shooting by appointment as well as game hunting. The hunting season here is September 1 through March 31 annually and seven days a week. The klodge accepts reservations for its four bedrooms.
• For over 60 years, this 640-acre farm has offered pheasant hunting in season in Southwestern Ohio. Quail and chukar are also available to hunt.

J. C. Phipps Farm Market and Hunting

• 427 Phipps Road, Stout, OH 45684. The farm, open from April through November) sends its produce to Market Street in Portsmouth OH as well for sale during the shift hours on Tuesdays and Saturdays at local farm markets.
• Fruits and Vegetables, We Pick and U-Pick: apples, beans, beets, blackberries, broccoli, cabbage, cucumbers, eggplant, greens, lettuce, melons, onions, peaches, pears, peppers, plums, potatoes, pumpkins, radishes, raspberries, squash, sweet corn, tomatoes, turnips, watermelon, zucchini, and others.
• Game animals for hunting: Deer (Whitetail is prolific in Ohio), raccoon, squirrels, and wild turkeys.

Big Maples Farm

• 7196 Morning Sun Rd, Oxford, OH 45056. Phone: (513) 523-3184
• Open during harvest season from Monday through Sunday, 9 to 9. Cash payment only. Bike riding trail available.
• A sustainability farm. Crops include sweet corn, bell peppers, squash, tomatoes, and other fruits and vegetables.

Blair's Fall Harvest and Corn Maze

• 2555 Us 62, Winchester, OH 45697. Phone: (937) 927-5257.
• Huge corn maze is very artistic when see from the sky. In 2010, it was cut into a tribute to our American armed forces. A corn teepee is also sometimes built.
• Fruits and vegetables, pumpkins, petting zoo, other farm animals.
• Flowers! - Mums, hanging baskets, others.
• Open in September and October annually. Open Monday through Saturday 10:00am to sundown and Sunday 1:00pm to sundown. Payment by cash and check.

Blooms and Berries

• 9669 Street Route 48, Loveland, OH 45140. Phone: (513) 697-9173.
• Fruits and vegetables, food vendors, petting zoo, pumpkins, weddings, hayrides, parties, corn maze, family activities. Shows and games. 100+ funny scarecrows.
• A unique Sunflower Maze is rumored to exist.
• Open April through October, seven days per week. Call for times.

Deerfield Farmers' Market

• 4188 Irwin Simpson Road, Mason, Ohio. Near King's Island. Call (513) 939-6557 for more information.
• Open Saturdays durikng harvest seasons; sign up for an email newsltter at http://www.deerfieldfarmersmarket.com
• This market is open-air and offers anything from produce and baked goods to honey and flowers, meat, eggs, and maple syrup. The park setting and activities make it unique and fun.

Garver Farm Market

• 6716 Hamilton-Lebanon Road, Middletown , OH 45044. Phone: (513) 539-6366.
• Open the end of June through the end of October yearly, seven days a week.
• Widest selection of produce in the area: various varieties of green beans, cabbage, vari-color corn, cucumbers, eggplant, okra, red onions, sweet onions, banana peppers, green/red/yellow bell peppers, redskin potatoes, new potatoes, yellow/green squash, tomatoes, gourds, pumpkins, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, others.
• Also sells Der Dutchman goods, ice cream, eggs, mums, hay, and straw.

Lettuce Eat Well Farmers' Market

• 3961 North Bend Road, Cheviot, OH 45211. Phone: (513) 481-1914. Call for location, as the market sets up in a couple of places.
• Open all year long on Fridays 3:00pm - 7:00pm with a large indoor and outdoor farmers' market. Lots of seasonal, local-grown fruits and vegetables, local hen eggs, baked goods, preserves and jams, arts and crafts, family activities.

Morning Dew Farm

• 4291 New Haven Rd, Hamilton, OH 45013. Phone: (513) 738-2978. Call for days and times.
• Fruits and vegetables include asparagus, berries, carrots, eggplant, peppers, red raspberries, onions, and others.
• Old fashion, harvested honey, wildflower honeys, locust tree honeys, raw honeys, other honeys. Fresh local eggs. Payment by cash or check.

Walther Farms

• 2931 Ross Millville Rd., Ross, OH 45013. Phone: (513) 805-6020.
• Open June through October annually, Tuesdays through Sundays.
• Offerings: locally grown tomatoes, asparagus, beans, berries, Cabbage cucumbers, lettuce, onions of all kinds, peaches, plums, black cherry cider, cheeses, honey from local bees, Amish-crafted furniture.