Shoppers Find Fresh Produce At First McLean Farmers Market Of 2024

MCLEAN, VA — A steady stream of shoppers turned out Friday morning for the opening of the 2024 McLean Farmers Market season.

Fresh strawberries, herbs, cucumbers and other produce were on display, as guitarist Brian Slaymaker provided a pleasant soundtrack for the shoppers to enjoy.

McLean Farmers Market is open, rain or shine, every Friday through Nov. 15, from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., at Lewinsville Park, located at 1659 Chain Bridge Road in McLean.

On Friday, the Fairfax County Park Authority provided baskets for shoppers to use and handed out canvas bags they could bring bag for future market visits. Rather than standard plastic bags, purchases were packed in compostable bags.

These are part of FCPA's effort to make its 10 farmers markets more eco-friendly this year. The baskets and bags were purchased using money the county received from the 5-cent plastic bag tax.

FCPA is also encouraging shoppers to drop off food scraps at its farmers markets for composting.

"People really like it because they can just do that at the same time as they do their food shopping," Caroline Hockenberry, FCPA's farmers market coordinator, told Patch Saturday at the opening of the Reston Farmers Market. "We only other have the landfill or the I-66 Transfer Station for compost collection in the county. This helps to keep people doing it. We had a really great response last season."

Below are the vendors who will be selling their wares during the 2024 farmers market season:

• AAA Caregiver Unit (organization)
• Baked by Drakeford (specialty)
• Beanetics Coffee Roasters (specialty)
• Family of Nuts (specialty)
• F.J. Medina & Son Farm (farmer)
• Grace's Pastries (specialty)
• Hog Haven Farm (farmer)
• Kuhn Orchards, LLC (farmer)
• Mt Olympus Berry Farm (farmer)
• Oksana’s Produce Farm (specialty)
• Panorama Baking Loic Feillet (specialty)
• Rock Hill Honey Bee Farms (farmer)
• Sharkawi Farm (farmer, dealer)
• Westmoreland Produce (farmer)