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Have a Great Winter!

November 04, 2024

After an exciting 2024 season, we are closing down for the winter. We want to take stock of our business this year, so that we can make improvements for 2025. Rest assured that we are still working: the growing seasons are often too busy to do anything but manage stock and store, so we take the winter to assess the business, make changes, and add improvements to the Market. The growing season is so busy that, usually, the only times to make these improvements is when the tourist season is at its lowest point!

As visitors to our site and to our store, we wanted to thank you for the support you've given us since April. We will be back and ready in spring, with improvements and plenty of great produce. Feel free to drop us a line on Facebook until then, and we'll keep you informed with opening dates in the spring.

Have a great winter and holiday season 2024!

Come Get a Hayride!

September 15, 2024

This fall we are again offering hayrides to the public, including individual and group reservations. We are one of the few companies left in Northeastern North Carolina that still continue to provide what used to be a very common autumn activity, so we are pleased to still be part of that tradition.

You might miss it from the front of the Market, but our property at Grandy's extends pretty far back into surrounding fields and woods. This is exactly where we make our hayrides, a nice slow tour of the Grandy grounds. Find a comfortable seat on the open hay trailer, let us hook up on of our tractors, and relax and enjoy the ride. Fall in North Carolina is never too cold, but there's always just enough briskness in the air to make the ride a pleasure.

Tickets are $11 per person, and are available from 10am to 5pm weekdays, 9am to 5pm weekends. Once you get your ticket, enjoy an easy ride back through sunflower and cotton fields to the pumpkin patch. Pick your pumkin and take it with you on the ride back, where you can make a scarecrow and enjoy a small cup of frozen yogurt and a small cup of apple cider, our treat. Hayrides leave about every hour on weekdays, or every 30 minutes on weekends, with the last ride leaving by 4:30pm.

In addition to our regularly scheduled hayrides, we also offer special hayrides when the sun goes down. Take a tour through the forest to our pumpkin patch to pick your very own pumpkin, then return to the market for your hot apple cider and fresh frozen yogurt. So come on down to the market for some good fun that you'll not want to miss!

Tickets for nighttime hayrides are $15 and are by pre-paid reservation only. Please call 252-453-2658 to reserve your tickets now!

We offer bookings for individuals and groups, seven days a week, so feel free to enjoy a hayride on your own time. Our trailer is nice and big, so we can even accommodate large groups. We also welcome classes, for school groups we can even provide an additional treat in the form of our cider-making and harvest workshops. For more information on these tours, see our Harvest Time page.

We won't be offering hayrides for long, so be sure to make your reservations soon! Contact us to make a reservation.

Pumpkins in Season for Fall

September 15, 2024

As the summer draws to a close, we have plenty of nice pumpkins to show for it. You always know pumpkin season's around the corner when the wind brings a bit of a chill, and this year was worth the wait.

If nothing else, you'll want to come in to see our Pumpkin Maze, set up under the Farm Market awnings. We've swapped out the usual vegetable stands for a small haystack maze to display our carving pumpkins. Enjoy browsing our selection in a fun and comfortable display area. Whether you want a wide smooth one or a tall knobbly one, from orange to green to white, we have all of our carving pumpkins in their natural habitat: surrounded by haystacks and brilliant Halloween decorations!

If cooking is more your type, we have some great pie pumpkins available as well. Though smaller than our carving pumpkins, they are easier to handle and have a great taste. In fact, we recommend cooking with pie pumpkins over carving pumpkins, as the variety of the pumpkin was developed over time for flavor instead of size. The flavor even beats canned pumpkin mix, and you can be sure of the ingredients! If you want the best pumpkin pies, cakes, and pastries, then you'll definitely want to pick up a couple pie pumpkins today. Our Bakery is certainly hard at work with them, making goodies that knock the socks off of any latte you might find this season.

Finally, we have what we like to call our "display pumpkins," which cover the more interesting varieties of pumpkins and gourds that would be best for indoor or outdoor displays. Though many are not technically pumpkins like we know it, they are closely related: they are all gourds with thick skins, tough flesh, and big seeds. But the shape and color differ wildly from one gourd to the next, so every year we love browsing through our selection to see what we get!

Interested? Check our Harvest Page for more information on our pumpkins, and for what we can do with them.

Precious Peaches: Carolina Peaches in Season!

June 21, 2024

We are proud to announce that South Carolina peaches are in season, and that we carry plenty of them in stock. We feature our peaches from June through August, and during this time we see hundreds of thousands of peaches pass through our market.

We generally carry yellow freestone peaches, the name of which refers to the color and to the quality of the peach. "Freestone" peaches have stones, or seeds, that come out easily when you open the peach. This makes things much easier when you use peaches for cooking, as otherwise the fruit "clings" and is difficult to remove. All of our peaches are freestone for this reason, as we like peaches that work equally well in the lunchbox or the oven.

If yellow isn't your color, then we carry white peaches as well. Sweeter and more delicate in flavor, white peaches are good when eaten alone or paired with cheeses. We don't generally recommend cooking with white peaches: yellow peaches have a flavor that stands out in pies, cakes, and other desserts, while white peaches are at risk of being overpowered by other flavors. But, when eaten raw, white and yellow peaches are both quite good!

Our grower in South Carolina has been consistently providing us with quality peaches for more than 20 years, so you can be assured that you will receive the best when you stop by our market.

While you're here, why not take a look at some of our other peach-related products? Our bakery specializes in peach pies, cobblers, and pastries throughout the summer, and we also carry a selection of light peach wines. But, whatever your fancy, we're sure you'll find that our peaches will be a great treat anytime during the summer, so eat and enjoy!

Grandy's Famous Dressings

June 21, 2024

We do a lot with fresh fruits and vegetables over the year, but we also carry a wide stock of preserved goods. Jams, honey, sauces, preserves...Grandy Farm Market is a great place to pick up some perserved goods that you won't find anywhere else. Among our best selling "pantry items" are our Vidalia Onion Dressings.

Made with (you guessed it) super-sweet Vidalia Onions as their base, the dressings build on that flavor using a variety of complementary herbs, spices, infused oils, and vegetables. The best thing about these dressings is that they can put a new spin on many dishes, not just salads: try Sun-Dried Tomato dressing on a burger, for example, or replace mayo with Lemon Poppyseed dressing in coleslaw. We even have peach-based dressings that combine sweet, salty, and spicy tastes for a flavor-packed addition to your summer salads.

Years ago we had just a handful of dressings, but each year we try to add something new. Whether you have some old favorites or you're looking for a new dressing to "wow" your dinner guests, be sure to check our Vidalia Onion dressings for something tasty and unique.

Season for Strawberries

April 18, 2024

One of the most exciting parts of early summer is watching strawberries grow from tiny, hard, pea-sized things to bright red bites of goodness. The local strawberry season has begun, and we can expect it to last at least through mid-June. Whether you're just dropping in for a visit or you're a local, drop in for some sweet, soft, brilliant strawberries.

Taking Care of Your Berries

When you get your strawberries, you'll want to take steps to preserve their shape and texture, especially if you purchased a lot of them and want to eat them whole. But even if you get just a quart of berries, you'll want to take care to keep them in good shape.

If you purchased a large bucket of strawberries and plan to keep them for a few days, the best step you can take is to separate the berries and put them in smaller containers. Sweet berries are soft berries, and ours are very sweet. After a night in the fridge, the sheer weight of the berries on the top of the bucket can crush those on the bottom. Of course, if you plan to make preserves or mix the berries in frozen yogurt that day, then maybe a bit of bruising is not such a big deal.

Before eating any berries, we strongly recommend giving them a good wash with cold water. This gets rid of lingering particulates, but it also perks up the berries. Also check your berries for mold: if bruises start to turn dark or you see fluffy white growths, don't eat affected strawberries and give neighboring berries a good wash. You may be able to use affected berries by cutting away distasteful sections, but if a berry is more than 50% affected then recommend using it for compost instead.

Remember that food mold loves sugary fruits but is not toxic, so don't panic even if you wake up to find one of your strawberries has gone full "cotton ball." Refrigeration and gentle handling are the best ways to preserve fresh strawberries at home.

Now Open for 2024

April 18, 2024

The green-and-white awnings are up once again as we begin the 2024 growing season! We are very excited for this year, as we have a great crew coming in and we are delighted at the stock our growers have set up for us. We've opened a little later this year compared to last year, but that's due mainly to the weird winter and cool spring this year. Nevertheless, the first day has been a blast and we are committed to bringing you the best produce throughout the seasons.

We'll be open daily, currently from 8:30am-5:30pm on weekdays and 8am-6pm on weekends, with extended weekend hours during summer. The Greenhouse may not have the fullest stock just yet, but the Farm Market will be pretty darn full. We even have the bakery and fudge counters going, so stop by for a sweet treat while you browse our produce. Soon we'll have our regular seasonal highlights, so check back often for updates on availability!

Are you ready? We're ready. From the first to the last day of the season, drop in to Grandy's for some great produce, baked goods, and other treats.

April 18th!

April 16, 2024

The produce truck is fuelled up and shiny, the store is swept and pretty, and the bakery ovens are scrubbed within an inch of their lives. But, most importantly, our local growers are ready with lots of produce. We are ready for the 2024 season, and we'll be opening very soon!

We plan to open on April 18th, at 8:00am sharp, and from then on we'll be open daily from 8am-6pm. As the summer season really kicks in, we'll extend our weekend hours to 7am-6pm. We look forward to seeing you!