High Country Farmers Market

High Country Farmers Market has a clear Boone connection through ASU, with the Goodnight Family Sustainable Development Farm at ASU tied to the market and ASU sustainable development students involved in a promotional video with F.A.R.M. Cafe. On Sundays, the market sets up in the Earth Fare parking lot on King Street, bringing together fresh vegetables and fruit, flowers, plants, eggs, fresh pasta, baked goods, crafts, and worm compost in one stop. The mix reads as practical rather than sprawling: groceries, garden starts, handmade goods, and a few distinctly Boone-style touches gathered into a compact weekly market.

Why it matters locally

The market’s link to ASU roots it in the wider farm and food culture of the High Country. The Goodnight Family Sustainable Development Farm at ASU, located in Valle Crucis, is described as a student-run operation growing a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, raising pigs and chickens, and using practices such as agroforestry, companion planting, ecological pest management, crop rotation, and cover cropping. That places the market in direct conversation with local agricultural education rather than treating it as a stand-alone shopping stop.

The vendor lineup also stays close to small-scale production. The Appalachian Shed combines garden and plant sales with eggs from a small flock of heritage breed chickens, while Buckskin Hollow brings spring vegetables and lettuces from its homestead garden. Even the prepared-food side keeps that handmade emphasis, with scratch-made baked goods from Sweeter by the Season and all-natural gourmet pasta from The Pasta Wench.

What you'll find there

Fresh food and garden items appear to be the backbone here, with baked goods, pasta, crafts, and a few specialty offerings rounding out the Sunday mix. The range is broad enough for a meal shop or a quick browse, but the named vendors point especially toward small-batch, made-by-hand products and homegrown produce.

• -Find Sweeter by the Season for organic, natural scratch-made baked goods, including cupcake specials, cookies, granola, pies, muffins, brownies, and biscotti.
• -Browse Kingfishercrafts for one-of-a-kind beaded jewelry, AnimalandIcons pendants, and assorted crafts.
• -Pick up plants, garden material, and eggs from The Appalachian Shed, which also keeps a small flock of heritage breed chickens.
• -Look to Buckskin Hollow for spring vegetables and lettuces from the garden.
• -Choose from The Pasta Wench’s all-natural gourmet pasta, including ravioli, fettuccini, cavatelli, and spaghetti, along with homemade gourmet sauces.
• -Expect a general market selection that includes fresh vegetables and fruit, flowers, plants, eggs, baked goods, crafts, and worm compost.

The market has also hosted activity beyond shopping. A kids’ creation station featured cooling seascapes made with local artist-teachers Kathy Ford and Sarah Grenier. Another kids’ event centered on underwater-themed paper plate seascapes using hand-picked shells from Emerald Isle, North Carolina. The calendar has also included a performance by Belly Dancing Troupe Ancient Moon with henna hand painting.

Know before you go

No dogs is the key planning detail here. The market takes place in the Earth Fare parking lot at 178 King Street in Boone, which makes parking straightforward if you are driving and gives you a precise landmark to aim for rather than a separate market square or park entrance. Sundays run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., so this is a midday market rather than an early-morning one.

If you are heading over for groceries, the strongest documented categories are produce, plants, eggs, fresh pasta, baked goods, crafts, and worm compost. A phone contact is listed at 828-264-5630. Restrooms are not available on-site.