McLean Farmer’s Market

Go for very fresh peaches, squash, berries, corn, and more interesting temptations, like homemade breads, Amish grass-​fed meats, and delicious berries. Wide variety of colors, shapes, and types of tomatoes, and not refrigerated and shipped. This is a small market, and not packed with people, so it is relaxed. Yes, the vendors are not extroverted; they appear to be the actual farmers or family members. I did not enjoy the Turkish pastry I bought-​seemed like it had been frozen in batches. But the veggies and fruits smell real and fragrant on my counter, and I can’t wait to serve them tonight.

Ugh… why should you come to the McLean Farmer’s market?
Well if you enjoy:
— Tiny farmer’s markets
— Overpriced items
— A limited selection of «enh» items
— Skipping work on a Friday morning to make their 9am to noon hours.
What I’m really saying is that any regular Joe /​Joanne won’t enjoy their visit or won’t be able to make it due to their crazy Friday hours.
Whenever I’m off from work and it happens to fall on a Friday, I’ll stop by the McLean Farmer’s market. Each time I ask myself, «Why why why did I come here AGAIN?»
Thankfully I keep my senses about me and don’t buy any of their overpriced stuff. I’d much rather visit any one of the various DC farmers market or the Saturday farmer’s in Falls Church at Cherry Hill park.
Do yourself a favor, save your money and your time and go somewhere else. Trust me.

The McLean Farmer’s Market is a bit small and overall pretty good, but Reid’s Orchards, one of their vendors, is AMAZING! Reid’s summer peaches are some of the sweetest and most delicately flavored that I’ve ever tasted, and apparently they have fabulous blackberries, because everyone was asking for them. They had all sorts of interesting types of apples, including some that I’ve never heard of before… Of course, I’m also a sucker for the logo on their truck, which includes a happy smiling tree. Yay! It looks like they also do the Reston, Herndon, and Bloomingdale Farmer’s Markets. (
) Check it out!

The McLean Farmers’ Market is held in the parking lot of Lewinsville Park on Fridays from May through November. It’s kind of a smallish market compared to other local markets. Quite honestly, I was underwhelmed. Just because something is local, it doesn’t mean it’s good. The ice cream vendor’s product is kind of icy. The several produce vendors were ok, but their prices make Whole Foods look like a discount store. I’m happy to pay more to support local producers, but I suspect they jack the prices even more because of the McLean address. One or two of the baked goods places were good, but several others weren’t (dried out bread). So many of the other local markets have more vendors, with better variety and quality. I probably won’t go back to the McLean market…