Good morning, Chattanooga. ☀️ Trista here, and I’m happy to have a sunny spring day ahead of us. I’ve been planning my spring + summer garden, but I haven’t actually planted anything yet. Anyone else? 🙋 Lucky for us, we live in a city with so much local produce — even in the time of COVID-19.

If you’re like me, you go through fresh produce pretty quickly — I can’t keep avocados or bananas around for very long. 🥑 Enter the Main Street Farmers Market, T&T Produce, Linda’s Produce + more. These local businesses are doing everything they can to make sure we have fresh food in our homes. #Blessed

Let me break it down.

Main Street Farmers Market

This is a year-long farmers market that happens on Wednesdays from 4-6 p.m. in the Chattanooga Brew Co. parking lot (1804 Chestnut St.). All of the food comes from within 100 miles of Chattanooga, meaning a lot of your local favorites can be found here. And yes, they’re still going during the COVID-19 crisis.

How to order:

○ Go to the website and click on the calendar tab — this will show you which vendors are available on which days.

○ Each vendor will have instructions on how to place an order and pick up.

○ All the items available at the market will be listed on this page.

What you can get at this market:

○ You can pretty much do all your grocery shopping here. They have bread, vegetables, fruit, herbs, pastries, eggs, meat, kombucha, grits, jams, nut milks, etc. 🥬

○ This is a food-centric market, so you won’t find a lot of craft items, like cutting boards and paintings. Just those good ol’ nutrients we need to survive. And maybe the occasional bar of soap or some wool.

Bonus: You can find local favorite Crabtree Farms at this market. 🙌

T&T Produce

You’ve probably seen one of these trucks around town — it’s because they have some pretty deep roots in Chattanooga. They’ve been around since 1989, and they’re the only produce company still competing with grocery stores. They have always been locally owned and operated, and they distribute food to local hospitals, schools, and independently owned + chain restaurants. And yes, you can order from them, too. 😋

How to order:

○ Go to T&T’s website and click “produce boxes” — it should pop up immediately.

○ They have two different produce boxes: “immunity” and “greens.” You can scroll down on the page to see what’s in each.

○ Pick the box you want (immunity or greens) and the quantity.

○ A calendar will show you which days you can pick up your box, so select the day that works best for you.

○ Submit your name, phone number, and email address — you’ll receive a confirmation email with your order and when + where to pick up your box(es).

Other information:

○ The pick-up address is 124 Park Industrial Blvd., Ringgold, GA.

○ You don’t have to get out of your car when you go to pick up your order — just call them when you get there and someone will bring it out to you.

○ They accept cash + card.

○ They are actively working on in-home delivery, and I’ve been told they should launch this service in about a week, so stay tuned — you can keep an eye on their Instagram for announcements here.

Bonus: T&T Produce is donating 400+ boxes of fresh food to the Chattanooga Area Food Bank every Friday — thank you. 🙏

Need more options?

○ Linda’s Produce (3306 Ringgold Rd., East Ridge + 5900 Highway 58, Harrison) is still open. They are still bringing in fresh produce along with other goods, like jars of local honey (hello, allergy season). They are open every day from 8 a.m.-7 p.m. 🍯

○ Bluewing Farms is offering CSA boxes, delivered to your door weekly. Wait, what’s a CSA? CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture and is an opportunity to receive fresh, locally grown food every week. What you receive depends on what is growing at the time. You can pick between a box for two people or a family share. For pricing, more information, and to sign up, go here.

○ Signal Mountain Farm is also offering CSA boxes, as they do every year. You can sign up to receive Signal Mountain Farm CSA boxes here, but keep in mind, pick-up for these boxes doesn’t start until May 14.

Happy eating, Chattanooga.