Takoma Park Farmers Market

Southern Maryland Seafood is a year-round member here, bringing whole crabs, picked meat, crab cakes, crabby eggs, and seasonal oysters to the market every Sunday. That seafood presence sits alongside a 25-vendor Sunday market behind the shops on Laurel Avenue, where the regular mix includes produce, breads, pasture-raised meats, dairy, and garden plants. Open year-round in Takoma Park, the market combines staple grocery shopping with a few harder-to-find specialties, from goat cheese to herbs and native plants.

Why it matters locally

The Takoma Park Farmers Market is producer-only, with participation limited to regional farmers and producers selling what they grow, raise, or make on their own farm or facility within a 125-mile radius of Takoma Park. That rule shapes the market in a concrete way: arts, crafts, and resale are not permitted, and even baker participation is capped at two bread-selling bakers. The Sunday lineup also shifts with the seasons, with summer vendors joining year-round vendors to expand the mix of produce, meat, cheese, eggs, baked goods, and plants for the garden. Food access is built into the market’s local role as well, with SNAP, WIC, and Senior FMNP all accepted.

What you'll find there

The vendor mix leans heavily toward practical Sunday shopping: vegetables, fruit, dairy, bread, prepared breakfast, and garden plants all have a place here. It is also a market where a few specialized stands stand out, especially seafood, goat cheese, herbs, and orchard fruit.

• -Pick up organic whole grain breads and baked goods from Atwaters Bakery.
• -Browse Audia’s Farm and Nursery for nursery perennials, shrubs, small trees, annuals, and pesticide-free field-grown vegetables.
• -Find apples, peaches, pears, nectarines, plums, apricots, blueberries, gooseberries, and more at Black Rock Orchard.
• -Choose from more than 200 herb varieties, plus native plants, perennials, shrubs, flowering vines, specialty annuals, and succulents at Blue Ridge Botanicals.
• -Shop certified organic vegetables, fruit, and herbs from Calvert’s Gift Farm in Baltimore County.
• -Look for milk, chocolate milk, butter, and probiotic yogurt from Clear Spring Creamery’s grass-fed dairy farm.
• -Stock up on asparagus, lettuce, bok choy, collards, onions, specialty beans, sweet potatoes, Yukon gold potatoes, herbs, tomatoes, honey, strawberries, and blueberries from Flower of the Forest Farm.
• -Try handmade artisanal cheeses from George’s Mill Farm, made with milk from Alpine dairy goats.
• -Order hot breakfast or lunch from Grassfed Griddle, which cooks with Smith Meadows meat, Keswick Creamery cheese, and Number 1 Sons pickles.
• -Head to Southern Maryland Seafood for whole crabs, picked meat, crab cakes, crabby eggs, and seasonal oysters.

Seasonal events add a little variation to regular market Sundays. The Summer Market Kick Off brings summer vendors back to join year-round sellers, and some Market Day pop-ups have featured Practical Botanicals, McClintock Distilling, Tenth Ward Distilling, Migrash, and Fairy Greens. Behind the shops on Laurel Avenue, the market’s Sunday setup has a distinctly grocery-first feel: a producer-only roster, bread limited to two bakers, and vendors drawn from within 125 miles of Takoma Park. That focus comes through in the names attached to the stalls as much as in the products. Flower of the Forest Farm is represented by Johnathan Magnani, who also serves as the market’s current board president, while Southern Maryland Seafood’s year-round presence is tied to owner Mike Maske of Waldorf. Even the farm and nursery stalls carry individual identities, as with Audia’s Farm and Nursery, described as a collaboration of Robert and Patty. The result is less a festival lineup than a Sunday market built around named growers and producers selling their own work.

Know before you go

No dogs are allowed, which is the detail most likely to change a Sunday plan for anyone arriving with a pet. The market is held in the parking lot behind the shops on Laurel Avenue, with the entrance at 6931 Laurel Ave next to Truist Bank. Street parking is available, and the meters are free on Sundays; the parking lot at Carroll and Willow Avenues is another option. If you are coming by rail, the market is four blocks from the Takoma Metro station on the Red Line. Restrooms are not available on site.

Payments & SNAP

The market accepts SNAP, WIC, and Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, and it identifies itself as a supporter of federal nutrition benefit programs. Maryland Market Money is also part of the market’s food-access mix.