Monmouth/Ocean County Farmers Markets? (Toms River, Lakewood: home, to buy, luxury)
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does anyone know of any great farmers markets in the monmouth/ocean county area? any help would be appreciated
There's a fairly new Farmer's market store on Rte 9 in Lakewood called NJ Farmer's Market (in the shopping center near rte 70/Toms River that has the Burger King in the front - I think it's called Seagull mall or something like that) and I go there for all my produce and for the greens for my rabbits. High quality low cost. I was shocked when I ran out of greens for the rabbits and got 1 head of romaine, 1 head of green leaf and 2 bundles of parsley at Shop Rite and it cost almost $8! I get 5 romaine, 4 green leaf and 10 parsley at the farmer's market for around $16! And the quality/quanity is far superior.
That's what I was going to say, but bear in mind that the Red Bank farmer's market is NOT cheap. The produce is very expensive. You might just as well take a ride over to Delicious Orchards. The only drawback of Delicious is that they don't always sell local produce.
However, FYI, in the summer there is a farm stand called Laurino's on 537 in Colt's Neck. Not sure when they open. Maybe I'll take a ride over and see if they have a sign.
That's what I was going to say, but bear in mind that the Red Bank farmer's market is NOT cheap. The produce is very expensive. You might just as well take a ride over to Delicious Orchards. The only drawback of Delicious is that they don't always sell local produce.
However, FYI, in the summer there is a farm stand called Laurino's on 537 in Colt's Neck. Not sure when they open. Maybe I'll take a ride over and see if they have a sign.
Might mean nothing, but the farmers in that link are all Jersey Fresh. All produce with a very small exception are home grown.
To me that means, I would rather walk into an old fashioned hardware store to buy something and pay a little more than to walk into a mega hardware store and get lost.
Might mean nothing, but the farmers in that link are all Jersey Fresh. All produce with a very small exception are home grown.
To me that means, I would rather walk into an old fashioned hardware store to buy something and pay a little more than to walk into a mega hardware store and get lost.
So would I. And I'd rather pay more for fresh, flavorful produce than pretty but tasteless crap trucked in from California.
But I've gone to other farmer's markets in the past when I lived in north Jersey, as well as the ones in the city, and they didn't have the over-the-top prices that the Red Bank farmer's market seems to have. Remember that the RB farmer's market is set up in the parking lot of Galleria, a sort of upscale "mall" of stores selling overpriced luxury items, so I do believe they are consciously boosting the prices because they know they are marketing to an affluent crowd who might go home and brag that they spent $5 for a single tomato.
Although Red Bank is the closest and most convenient farmer's market to my home, I am NOT the sort of person who believes that just because something cost a great deal more, it must be better. I'd rather travel a little further to a place where the prices are not artificially inflated, thanks. And I am going to get the same homegrown quality by going to an actual NJ FARM.
So would I. And I'd rather pay more for fresh, flavorful produce than pretty but tasteless crap trucked in from California.
But I've gone to other farmer's markets in the past when I lived in north Jersey, as well as the ones in the city, and they didn't have the over-the-top prices that the Red Bank farmer's market seems to have. Remember that the RB farmer's market is set up in the parking lot of Galleria, a sort of upscale "mall" of stores selling overpriced luxury items, so I do believe they are consciously boosting the prices because they know they are marketing to an affluent crowd who might go home and brag that they spent $5 for a single tomato.
Although Red Bank is the closest and most convenient farmer's market to my home, I am NOT the sort of person who believes that just because something cost a great deal more, it must be better. I'd rather travel a little further to a place where the prices are not artificially inflated, thanks. And I am going to get the same homegrown quality by going to an actual NJ FARM.
Not sure why RB is higher, but the farmers there are home grown in NJ.
Not sure why RB is higher, but the farmers there are home grown in NJ.
I am not arguing that they aren't. That's not an issue. It's just hard for me to understand why a farmer's market in NJ is so much more expensive than a farmer's market in NYC that also has NJ farmers selling their own homegrown produce. The downside of just going to the NYC market is schlepping all the produce home on the train!
The RB market also sells T-shirts, purses, jewelry, and other "hand-crafted" items, so it's kind of a flea market as well, if people are interested in those things.
I am not arguing that they aren't. That's not an issue. It's just hard for me to understand why a farmer's market in NJ is so much more expensive than a farmer's market in NYC that also has NJ farmers selling their own homegrown produce. The downside of just going to the NYC market is schlepping all the produce home on the train!
The RB market also sells T-shirts, purses, jewelry, and other "hand-crafted" items, so it's kind of a flea market as well, if people are interested in those things.
I used to be very involved with the farmers market NJCFC.org and don't know why RB is more expensive.
While each town sets up their own pricing for the farmers they pretty much should be within reason.
You might want to contact the Janice Piccolo (jpiccolo@chathamborough.org) who's on the Exec Committee and ask her.
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