This past weekend, the Chattanooga Market hosted its season opening. As a continuation of our #BuyLocalBuyGreenNOOGA initiative, I (City Editor Brianna here 👋) decided to try buying my groceries from the market.

🥬 What we tried

While my original goal was to buy all of my food for the week while there, I gave myself a little leeway this time around + stuck to purchasing my basics — plus a few extra goods.

I realized there were some things (like beans, pasta, and random items like veggie broth) that I wasn’t able to get at the market, and that’s ok. Here’s what I ended up with:

Kale | Red Clay Farm | Make sure to wash your kale before eating (this stuff really is from farm to table)
Heirloom tomatoes | Melon Patch Farms | Try these on a grilled cheese sandwich with Bluff View bread
Strawberries | Melon Patch Farms | You couldn’t walk past these without smelling them — naturally, I had to get a whole quart
Sourdough bread | Bluff View Bakery | Once you start buying bakery bread, you can never return to Nature’s Own Honey Wheat
Vegan pimento cheese | Suga’s Pimento Cheese | Confession: I ate a whole pack of this stuff in one day + had to return to the market on Sunday to buy more
Tomatillo salsa | 100% Artisan Foods | Salsa made with fresh + all-natural ingredients
Vegan tamales | 100% Artisan Foods | These tamales are perfect for days when you’re on the run — they’ve got tons of options

Bonus favorites: Nisha’s Flavors of India (try the cilantro peanut chutney) + Velvet Robot Coffee (try the banana stand).

🥬 Other local markets

Brainerd Market | Saturdays, 10 a.m.-12 p.m. | April-December | Grace Episcopal Church, 20 Belvoir Ave.

Main Street Market | Wednesdays, 4-6 p.m. | Year-round | 1804 Chestnut St.

Chattanooga River Market | Saturdays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. | March-September | Tennessee Aquarium Plaza

Lookout Market | Saturdays, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. | Opens May 14 | Fairyland Elementary, 1306 Lula Lake Rd.

Signal Art + Farmers Market | First Saturday of the month, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. | Started this month | Mountain Arts Community Center

Ooltewah Market | Thursdays, 3-6 p.m. | Year-round | Ooltewah Nursery & Landscape Co., 5829 Main St., Collegedale

St. Albans Market | Saturdays, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | Year-round | 7514 Hixson Pike

Mountain Top Farmers Market | Sundays, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. | July-October | 281 South Mountain Blvd.

Black Creek Farmers Market | 2nd Saturdays, 9:30-11:30 a.m. | April-September | Festival Loop "near the ponds" in Black Creek